


No Hero

by beatlechicksteph



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance, Sexual Content, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2018-09-24 14:01:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 45,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9748565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beatlechicksteph/pseuds/beatlechicksteph
Summary: Following The Battle of New York, Tony is suffering from PTSD and is beginning to doubt his role as a hero. When things go pear shaped during an attack on his home from the Mandarin, he finds himself in rural Tennessee and in the care of a young woman who has her own demons to overcome.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. They all belong to their respective owners.
> 
> Hello! This is a new idea that I came up with when I was watching Iron Man 3 with my son. What would happen if instead of that little boy, Tony came across Hermione Granger that night in Tennessee? How would that change things? So, this is a crossover, that is obviously AU for Harry Potter, and mixed with the Avengers, time line is canon, everything else is obviously AU. This is short, and just a taste of what is to come.

Tony woke with a start. Sweat drenching him from head to toe. He glanced over at Pepper sleeping soundly next to him, sighing in relief that he managed not to wake her this time. It had been a few weeks since what the media had dubbed "The Battle of New York", and he was experiencing recurring nightmares about his near death free fall from the portal nearly every night since. He usually woke Pepper when he did, and that always led to her badgering him about talking about his problems, if not to her than to someone else, anyone else, blah blah blah. He just needed to focus on other things for a while. Near death came with the hero territory, didn't it? 

Of course, he thought as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed standing up and quietly padding to the door. Two years ago the idea of aliens didn't cross my mind. He quietly shut the door behind him and walked down to his workshop.

"You're up late, sir, can't sleep?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked as Tony walked into the workshop flipping on lights as he moved. 

"Well, you know, J.A.R.V.I.S, genius never sleeps. Can you pull up the schematics of the Mark VII? I think I need to make some adjustments for the next one."

"Sir, are you sure should be working on this now?"

"C'mon, J.A.R.V.I.S, I can't sleep, I need to focus on something. I just need to do a little bit of tinkering to calm my mind and get then I'll be able to get some sleep."

"Of course, sir."

The schematics for the most recent incarnation of his suit displayed on the screen in front of him. The same suit he was wearing during the Battle of New York, the same one he was wearing when he... 

Tony took a deep breath, closing his eyes he willed his heart rate to slow back down to normal, and the queasy feeling in his stomach to dissipate. When he felt that he was back to normal, he opened his eyes. He needed to focus. He needed to make a better suit. A safer suit. One that could protect him and the world from anything that dared to threaten it. And what he learned a few weeks ago, that "anything" could include aliens and gods from other worlds. It would take a lot of work, but he would be ready for whatever came next. He would not be thrown off guard or surprised. He would be ready.

TSHG

Hermione smiled as she read the letter she received from Harry and Ginny that morning, updating her on the kids. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her friends were parents, even though James was eight years old already. It still seemed like it was yesterday they were all at Hogwarts, and now her best friend's child was just a few short years from starting there himself. It was mental. 

She looked at the pictures Harry included, and she couldn't help but laugh. Harry must have included half a dozen photos and in every single one all three children were looking in different directions. There wasn't one where all three were looking at the camera. She really needed to make it back home soon and visit them. They were growing up way too quickly. The 'baby' was already two. She had no idea where the time was going. It seemed to continue speeding up, and she watched as her friends all started families and those families grew up. And she couldn't help but feel as if her life was at a standstill.

She moved around her house getting ready for the day, placing the photos on the counter. She would need to put those up in her office when she got home from work. She always made sure that all of the pictures that Harry sent of his kids were displayed in her office until the next set were sent. She was each of the kids' godmother after all. She may not be physically close to them right now, but she felt a great love and pride for them. She really needed to make it home soon. 

She walked to her door grabbing her coat and bag. She locked the door and walked down to the sidewalk. She only lived a few blocks from her work so she walked every day, which made her feel good, like she was doing something good for the Earth. Plus, she still didn't have a driver's license. She smiled as she passed her neighbors. Everyone in her town was so friendly, it made her feel good about her decision to move here a few years back. 

She walked up to the door of the building and unlocked the door, flipping the sign from closed to open. She walked over to the front desk and powered on the computer before taking a seat and pulling her book out of her bag and settling down to read. Being the only librarian in the small town of Rose Hill, Tennessee was not a very stressful job, and she expected it to be a very slow day.


	2. Chapter 1

"Tony!"

Tony startled, dropping the screwdriver he held, and looked up toward the entrance of his workshop. Pepper stood on the stairs, her hands on her hip, her face twisted into a scowl.

"You startled me," he said, picking up his screwdriver and returning to his work. 

"I said your name several times, you didn't hear me. I thought you might have been listening to something on ear buds or something, but I can see now that's not true. What in the world are you working on that's got you so focused?"

Tony shrugged. "Just tinkering with my suit. I need to make sure I'm prepared for any eventuality."

Pepper sighed and moved the rest of the way down the stairs and into the room fully. "You've been working on this for months. Did you sleep at all last night? I don't remember you coming to bed."

Tony shook his head, not taking his eyes off the gauntlet in his hands. "That's because I didn't."

"Tony," Pepper said, her voice full of concern. "You can't keep doing this to yourself. You need to stop working and get some sleep."

Tony shook his head as he set the gauntlet and the screwdriver down. "That's the problem, Pepper, I can't sleep. I physically can't. I just lay there and nothing happens. And when I do sleep, I have nightmares."

"Nightmares? About what?"

"What do you think? About New York. About almost dying. Alien invasions. You name it."

Pepper moved and put her hand gently on his shoulder. "Why didn't you say anything? I just assumed you were fine. It's been six months. I could have helped. You can talk to me about things like this, Tony. Let me help you."

"Six months? Hm, it still feels like it all happened yesterday," Tony mused so quietly that Pepper almost missed it. 

"Tony, come on, let's go upstairs. Let's get something to eat. And maybe you can go lie down and try and catch up on some sleep." Pepper turned around and stopped abruptly. It had been a while since she had come down into the workroom, she had been busy running Stark Industries the last couple of months. She soon realized she should have come down here much, much sooner. Lining the walls of the room were dozens of glass cases, each one containing a different Iron Man suit. "Tony," Pepper said, concern evident in her voice. "I thought you were improving your suit? But you were building new ones? How many?"

Tony didn't even look up. "I'm currently putting the finishing touches on the Mark Forty-Two."

Pepper's mouth dropped open. "Forty-two? Forty-two?! Tony! You've built thirty-five suits in the last six months?"

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Tony, this is obsession, you need to stop. You need help."

"Each suit is different," Tony said, ignoring what Pepper had said. "This one that I'm working on, for example, is tuned to me, and it will come to wherever I am and build itself on my body, piece by piece."

"Every single one of these suits is different?" Pepper asked. "Why do you need that, Tony?"

"You can never be too prepared," he answered. "You never know what's going to pop up. Alien invasion. Fucking Loki. I need to be prepared. I need to know that when the inevitable happens I'm ready. That I have a suit that will do what it needs to do."

Pepper pressed her hands to her mouth, trying to control her emotions. It hurt her to see Tony hurting like this. She couldn't handle it. "J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Yes, ma'am," the A.I. answered.

"Please shut down the computers for the next twenty-four hours and don't allow Mr. Stark to work on them. I'm taking him upstairs to eat and to rest."

The computers in the room shut down, along with most of the lights. "What the hell!?" Tony yelled throwing down his screwdriver. 

"Up. Now." Pepper said. "We'll order takeout. It's almost Christmas, Tony," she said. "Let's just go upstairs, and take a break. Try and figure out what we can do to help you feel better. Help you get through, whatever this is."

Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine," he answered. He stood up from his stool and started heading toward the stairs. "But I get to pick what we eat. None of this healthy shit. I want greasy, and I want lots of it."

Pepper smiled as she saw a glimpse of the man she knew and loved. Baby steps.

 

He had a hold of the nuke, and he was flying as fast as he could toward the portal. If he didn't get there soon, the nuke would go off, taking New York with it, and everything he and The Avengers had been doing to save the city from the invasion would be for naught. He began his ascent toward the portal, J.A.R.V.I.S. reminding him about his fate. A one way trip, yadda yadda yadda. The next thing he knew he was in space, and the nuke was sailing toward a giant space ship, setting off an explosion. And then he was falling, just falling, backwards. He felt his suit power down, and then nothing, just falling, and falling and falling...

Tony sprung up in the bed with a start. Feeling around, he tried to figure out where he was. He relaxed a bit once he realized that he was safe at home, in bed with Pepper. Tony turned and noticed that she was up, staring at him, worry etched in every feature of her beautiful face. This was exactly what he didn't want. He didn't want Pepper to have to worry about him and his head space. She was already amazing and running his fucking company for him. He didn't need to add to her stress by being concerned about his wellbeing. He heard the intake of her breath, as if she was going to say something. 

Tony's phone began vibrating on the bedside table, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Dodged a bullet there. He could only hope that whoever was on the other end of that line needed something right now, so he could avoid this conversation a little bit longer. "This is Stark," he answered the phone.

"Mr. Stark, we're calling you because you're the emergency contact for a Mister Happy Hogan. You need to come down here right away. Mr. Hogan was involved in an explosion," the voice on the other end said.

"An explosion?" Tony asked, not quite sure he heard it right. 

Pepper fumbled around for the remote, flipping the television on and there it was. A report about an explosion by Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. And The Mandarin was taking responsibility for it. The fucking Mandarin. 

"I'll be right down," Tony said into the phone, hanging it up.

 

"Did you need to give out your home address on national TV while issuing your threat to a terrorist?" Pepper asked as they entered the house. 

"I don't know what I was thinking," Tony said. "I was just so angry. It just came out." Tony headed toward the stairs to his lab.

"Hey," Pepper said. "Twenty-Four Hours."

"I know," he said. "But I need to do some research about this Mandarin. I need to do something. He put Happy in the hospital. I can't just sit around and wait for him to take me up on my open invitation."

Pepper sighed. "Fine, but I'm going to come and get you for lunch."

"Deal."

 

In hindsight, it was probably a poor idea to give out his address on national television and threaten the Mandarin. Once Tony had Pepper to safety, and had his suit back, which tracked to him beautifully if he must say so himself, he scrambled to come up with a plan of action. A plan to try and get himself to safety and take out whoever the hell was shooting up his house. His poor house, which was currently crumbling around him, and between that and J.A.R.V.I.S continually reminding him that his suit was not up to functionality, because it was indeed just a fucking prototype, it was really hard to just focus on what he needed to do. His blasters were working, kind of, not really, and then the next thing he knew he was falling. His heart constricted in his chest, and his breathing sped up. This all seemed too familiar, falling in his suit, falling during an attack. He began flailing his hands in a panic, trying in vain to get the suit to do what it was supposed to do. Just fly. But it was all in vain, as it was just a fucking prototype he had yet to completely finish. 

When he hit the water, it took his breath away, and his panic attack only increased as he sank to the bottom of the ocean and rubble from his house landed on top of him. He could vaguely hear what J.A.R.V.I.S was saying, but it was just background to the buzzing in his ears as his heart rate kept increasing. As his helmet began filling with water, he started to black out, just as he heard J.A.R.V.I.S announce: "Flight power restored." And then nothing.

 

Tony came to with a start. His entire body ached. He looked up at the sky, and it was dark, and he was no longer wearing the face mask of the helmet. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark, and then turned his head to the left. He was definitely not in Malibu anymore. There were woods on either side of him, and it appeared there was snow on the ground. Yeah, definitely not in Malibu anymore.

"J.A.R.V.I.S where am I?" he asked, his voice hoarse. 

"About five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S answered. 

"Rose Hill, Tennessee? Why the hell am I in Tennessee?"

"The last place you researched in connection to The Mandarin was Rose Hill, Tennessee, sir, and when your flight power was restored, it automatically set a flight pattern here."

Tony sighed, sitting up, groaning as every muscle in his body protested that move. "J.A.R.V.I.S please run diagnostics on the suit."

"It is completely destroyed, sir."

"Completely destroyed?"

"To be fair, sir, it wasn't completely functioning when you put it on, as it is a prototype. The crash landing destroyed what little of the suit was functioning in the first place."

Tony groaned, and got to his feet. "Five miles into town, you say?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then I better get to walking shouldn't I?"

 

Tony readjusted the rope he had over his shoulder that he was using to drag his suit. Five miles on it's own wouldn't have been so bad. Five miles after falling into the ocean and then crash landing into the ground and then having to haul his suit? Dante should probably add that to one of his rings of Hell. He sighed in relief as he saw the outskirts of town coming into view. Judging by the looks of it, Rose Hill was definitely not a bustling metropolis. There was a spattering of houses, and when he looked a bit further he could see the main drag. It looked like the quintessential small town. He looked around, and he knew it must be late. There wasn't a light on in any of the houses. And there didn't look to be a motel to speak of. He glanced around and smiled to himself. There was a house that had an old shed in the back of it. It didn't look like it had been used in years. 

Tony made his way over to the shed and dropped his suit at his feet. It was locked. It had a chain and a padlock. He stood there and argued with himself internally for a bit. Obviously the shed was not as unused as he had first thought, but he really needed a place to stay while he got the suit up and running again so he could leave. It didn't take a lot of debating before he was reaching into his pocket for something to pick the lock.

It didn't take long for him to pick the lock, and open the doors. He drug his suit into the shed, and closed the doors behind him. Closing the door cut off any light from the outside. Tony cursed himself, and began trying to feel around for a light switch or a flashlight, something. He was sure he was almost to the wall when he heard rustling behind him. He flinched as a bright light illuminated the inside of the shed. 

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my shed?"


	3. Chapter 2

Hermione sprung up in her bed in a panic. Something had disturbed her wards. She had them intricately set so that wildlife wouldn't trigger them as they moved back and forth through her property, but if a human so much as stepped on foot on her property line, they would light up like Christmas, alerting her. And so far in her years of living in Rose Hill, they have never gone off. People here minded their own business and didn't come snooping around. That is until tonight. 

For a split second, Hermione started to panic. What if it was a rogue Death Eater? They still hadn't caught Dolohav, and for some reason he was still holding a grudge against her, fourteen years after Voldemort was defeated. Every once in a while an owl would reach her with vague threats against her. For the first few years after the war, Harry and the Aurors would look into them and try to find him, but they always led to dead ends and eventually they stopped looking into them as much. She had a file at the Ministry, and every time she received one she would report it to them. They would make a note in her file, and she would move on. She wondered if they would ever catch him. She got so tired of looking over her shoulder every time she left her flat, she packed up and moved here. She was the only wizard in town, and that was part of the appeal. She picked up a map of the United States, which she picked because it was so large and the wizarding population so spread out, and just closed her eyes and pointed. Her finger landed in Tennessee, and she picked Rose Hill because the name sounded pleasant. When she got here, the librarian was just on the verge of retirement, so it was the perfect opportunity for her. She became the town librarian, and lived a mostly Muggle life. Except for her wards on her property, and her potions lab in her spare bedroom that is. 

Hermione's heart rate picked up as she began to wonder if it really was Dolohov, here to finally do whatever it was he planned on doing to her. She didn't know how he could have found her. Maybe he placed a tracking spell on one of the letters or owls that she got last. She had become lax at casting detection spells, since she lived a mostly mundane life. 

She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and reached for her wand from her bed side table. She slipped on the shoes she kept near her bed, but didn't bother with a robe. Instead, she cast a quick warming spell around herself, and moved to her front door. She opening in carefull, leading with her wand. There was no one out front. That was a good sign. She moved around the side of the house, and the coast seemed clear. She looked around, and the night was quiet. Maybe her wards were becoming weak and needed a touch up, maybe it was just a racoon or a something running across her property to get to the surrounding woods. She was about to turn back when she heard a sound coming from her shed near the back of her property. It was definitely not a raccoon. 

She lifted her wand even higher, and began to move toward the shed, chastising herself the entire walk for her nervousness. She fought in a bloody war and faced off against multiple Death Eaters, she could take on whatever was in her bloody shed. As she approached, she first noticed that the chain was off and the padlock was hanging by the end, unlocked. She breathed a sigh of relief. If it was someone sinister in her shed they wouldn't have taken the time to carefully pick the lock, they would have broken the chain or the door, or both, to get in. But she could see a faint blue glow moving around in there. There was someone in there, and they had a light of some kind. What on Earth were they doing in her shed? Did they think she had something valuable in there?

She moved to the door, and whispered Lumos lighting the tip of her wand before throwing the door open. "Who are you and what are you doing in my shed?"

The person, man from what she could tell, whipped around and threw their hands up. He was flinching away from the light on her wand. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do. I needed somewhere to stay for the night, and your shed looked very inviting from the road," the man said.

Hermione focused on dimming her wand, and watched as the man relaxed. As he tried to refocus his eyes, Hermione took in his appearance. He wasn't incredibly tall, but he was taller than her. He had dark hair, and wore his facial hair in a neatly trimmed goatee and mustache. He was wearing dark clothing, but there was an odd glowing blue circle in the center of his chest. And that's when it hit her sleep addled mind who the man in her shed was. She moved her wand down and she spotted a red and yellow metal suit lying on the ground next to him, confirming her suspicions. 

"You're Tony Stark," she said, perplexed. "What the hell is Tony Stark doing in my shed in the middle of the night?"

Tony tilted his head. "How do you know who I am?" he asked. 

"Just because we're the middle of nowhere doesn't mean we don't have telly or internet," Hermione said. "I'm pretty sure everyone knows who you are. So want to tell me what you are doing in my shed in the middle of the night?"

"It's a long story," Tony answered. 

"I have time," she said.

"Do you have a chair or something for me to sit in, because I just walked five miles into town hauling my suit, and let me tell you, that was not an easy task."

"You can sit on one of the benches over there. I would invite you into my house, but you're still technically a home invader, even though you're a billionaire superhero. I hope you understand."

"No, I totally understand. I'm sorry that I broke into your home. When I picked it, I didn't think anyone would notice I was in here The shed didn't look like it had been used in quite a while. How did you know I was in here anyway?"

"I'm a light sleeper. I heard something rummaging around outside the house. I came to investigate," she replied, thankful that she was able to think on her feet.

"Ah," Tony said, as he made his way across the room to the benches she had indicated earlier before taking a seat. "British?" he asked as he settled in.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, thrown off by the change of topic.

"British. The accent."

"Yes," Hermione said.

"And do you live here with a husband, a boyfriend, a friend?"

"I don't see how that is any of your business," Hermione answered. "I'm the one who should be questioning you, you are on my property. Give me one good reason to not call the authorities and have you removed?"

"Look, my home was attacked earlier today, and my suit malfunctioned and sent me here during my escape. When I crash landed my suit was destroyed. I just need somewhere to work on my suit and get it back in working order. That's it. I would really appreciate it if you would let me stay in your shed and fix up my suit. I promise I won't bother you, and once I have access to my money, you'll be greatly compensated," Tony explained.

"Why did your suit bring you here? To Rose Hill? It just seems, random. Why wouldn't it bring you to New York? Don't you have a home there? I thought I saw something like that on the news."

Tony sighed, running his hands over his face. "What do you know about The Mandarin?"

"The terrorist who's been setting off explosions? I've seen what everyone else has. He's not exactly keeping quiet these days. His face has been on the telly constantly."

"Well," he said. "I was looking into him. His last attack injured my friend and I wanted to find him and take him down. When I was researching him, Rose Hill came up. I had to stop in the middle of my research to deal with some business, and then my house was attacked and when my suit tried to take me to safety, it brought me here because it was the last location in my database."

Hermione lowered her wand to her side. She did not like the news that an international terrorist was tied to her sleepy town. She moved here to get away from shit like this. "What does The Mandarin have to do with Rose Hill?" 

Tony shrugged. "I don't know, exactly. I didn't have a chance to get any details. I just know that there's something in this town that will lead me to him if I look hard enough."

Hermione stood there staring at Tony. She didn't like that he had broken into her shed and planned to just squat there hoping she would never notice him, but she knew that if anyone could have broken into her shed, it was good that it was him. He was technically a superhero. He had helped save New York from an alien invasion over the summer. She remembered sitting in the library, glued to the screen of the telly watching the coverage with bated breath. He had saved the day by diverting a nuclear weapon that was sent to destroy the city. He was a hero with a capital H. If The Mandarin did have a connection with her city, she wanted him to be here and wanted him to be the one to take care of it before something terrible happened.

"You can use the shed to fix your suit," she said, smiling when she saw Tony sit up straighter. "But you can't sleep out here. I know you're used to living in sunny California, but it's December in Tennessee. That white stuff on the ground is snow, and I know you probably don't feel it yet, because you just walked here hauling your suit, but it's freezing. You can sleep in the house. I have a couch you can use."

"Thank you, so much," he paused. "I don't think I caught your name."

"Hermione," she said.

"Hermione. Shakespeare. I like it."

Hermione couldn't help but blush as she turned to lead the billionaire superhero back to her house, thinking all the while that she must be crazy for offering up her home. But sometimes being a little crazy was worth it, right?


	4. Chapter 3

Tony stretched and rolled over, and then he was falling. His eyes snapped open in a panic just as he landed with a thud on the carpet. His elbow throbbed in pain as he pushed himself up from his prone position on the ground. He looked around and finally remembered where he was. The previous day and night came back to him in a flood of memories. The attack on his home, the crash landing in the middle of nowhere, the breaking and entering, Hermione offering him a place to stay while he got his suit back up and running. 

After she agreed to let him stay with her, she led him back into the house and gave him the quick tour, showing him the couch and the bathroom before retiring back to bed. He remembered laying down on the couch and then nothing. No nightmares. It was the most sound he had slept in a long time even since before New York. He chalked it up to his body just being completely worn down from the beatings it took the day before that it just shut down and allowed him to sleep so he could heal. 

He stood up from the floor, and stretched, cracking his back. He moved to the bathroom. There was a note on the door that he was to leave his clothes on the outside of the door and she would take care of laundering them for him and that there were clean clothes that might fit him inside. He glanced around the house, and he didn't see Hermione anywhere. He moved down the hallway a little and noticed two closed doors. She was probably behind one of them. Or at work, he mused as he glanced out the window and noticed it was closer to mid-day than early morning. He couldn't remember the last time that he had slept that long. 

He moved back to the bathroom, and took care of business. As he was enjoying the hot stream of water running down his face, his thoughts moved back to Pepper. Before he did anything else he needed to ask for a phone to call her and make sure that she was okay, and let her know that he was okay. She was probably worried sick. He shut the water off, and toweled off. He reached down and picked up the clothes Hermione had set out for him. A knitted sweater with a large R on the front and a pair of jeans. They were a little snug, but they did fit. He opened the door and moved back into the main part of the house. He glanced down and noticed his clothes were gone, but he still didn't see Hermione. He moved back down the hallway, stopping when he heard her muffled voice.

She was behind one of the closed doors, talking to someone. "I know it's Christmas Eve, Harry," he heard her saying. "I'm going to try to get there later tonight, or tomorrow morning for sure."

"Mione," he heard another voice saying. "The kids were really looking forward to you being here. They miss you."

He heard her sigh, "I know, Harry, I know. I promise I won't miss Christmas, I won't. The kids deserve to have their godmother there with them. Spoiling them."

"Their aunt, Mione. Their aunt. You'll always be their aunt. No matter what."

"I know, I know," he heard her voice crack a bit. "I'll be there, Harry. But I have to go. I'll be there before the kids wake up tomorrow morning, yeah?"

He heard the other voice sigh, "Yeah. I'm worried about you, Mione. We'll talk more tomorrow while you're here."

"Okay. Love you, Harry."

"Love you, Mione."

Tony heard footsteps moving toward the door, and quickly moved away so as to not seem like he was eavesdropping on her conversation. The door swung open and Hermione came walking out, stopping short when she saw him. She moved her hand to her chest, and took in a deep breath. 

"Mr. Stark, you startled me," she said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just trying to find you and thank you for letting me in your home. And it's Tony. If you're going to let me crash, there's no need for formalities. By the way, I'm an ass. I just remembered it's Christmas Eve. The holidays completely slipped my mind with everything going on. I'm not keeping you from family, am I?"

She shook her head. "No. Well, I have something to attend tomorrow morning, but you're not keeping me from anything at this moment."

"Good, good," Tony said, eying her, trying to figure her out. She was keeping something from him, he could tell. He would need to keep an eye on her, just in case it turned into something that affected him. "Thank you for the clothes by the way. Your husband or boyfriend won't mind that I'm wearing them?"

He watched as her eyes filled with sadness. "He won't mind, because," she paused, taking in a shaky breath, "he's no longer around to mind."

"I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't mean--"

"No, it's quite alright, you didn't know. Let's just let it be, yeah?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, of course."

Hermione nodded, taking a deep breath to compose herself. "Now," she said, trying her best to sound cheery. "What do you need from me so you can get started on fixing that suit of yours?"

"Do you have a computer, a laptop preferably, that I can take out to the shed to hook my suit up to? I need to start communicating with my A.I. and with the suit busted the only way I can get in contact with him is through a computer."

Hermione nodded. "Of course, just give me a second."

Tony watched as she disappeared back into the same room she was in talking to her...friend? Brother? She was only in there for a second before she emerged with a laptop and a basket of cords. She walked up to him holding out what she had in her arms. "I didn't know what you would need to actually hook the suit up to the computer, so I brought you all the cords that I had."

Tony glanced down in the basket. "I'm sure I can make these work. Thank you." He took the laptop and the basket from her. 

"There's a space heater in the back of the shed, I'm ninety percent sure that it still works. Feel free to turn it on if you get too cold out there."

"Thank you, that's good to know. I'm one hundred percent certain I'll be using it. I spend most of my time in Malibu, so I'm not used to the cold. How long did it take you to get used to the cold?"

"Well, I'm from England, and went to school in Northern Scotland, so I was already quite used to the cold. It was the summers I needed to get used to out here."

Tony smiled. "Oh yeah, I forgot that the weather is a bit cooler across the pond, so to speak. The summers must have come as quite the shock."

"They certainly did. I had never seen the sun so many days in a row as I did my first summer living here."

Tony laughed. "I need to get this started, but I would love to hear more of your fish out of water stories later, make me feel a little better about mine."

"You have fish out of water stories?"

"Of course. I mean, I think I'm at the beginning of one right now," he said with a grin. 

Hermione laughed. Tony smiled, standing a little bit taller knowing that he was able to make her laugh. And what a laugh it was. He admired the fact that her whole face changed as she laughed, her eyes lit up and she just looked...beautiful. Tony shook his head, sobering up a bit. What was he doing? He had a girlfriend. Who he loved. He shouldn't be admiring strange women who welcomed him into their homes. That was the old, womanizing Tony. Not the new committed to Pepper Tony. 

"I'm, uh, just going to go out and get started on fixing the suit."

Hermione looked confused. "Um, okay, let me know if you need anything else."

Tony nodded, "Will do." He quickly turned and walked out the door. After the door closed behind him, he leaned against it and closed his eyes. He needed to get a hold of himself. He needed to fix his suit and figure out what the Mandarin's connection to this town was, and then get the hell out of here and back to Pepper.

 

It took him about half an hour, but he was finally able to get the suit to talk to Hermione's laptop. It was an older computer, and bottom of the line. When he got back, and after he took care of this Mandarin thing, in addition to financially compensating her he would buy her a new laptop. The best money could buy, because no one deserved to work on a piece of shit like this. 

Once he got the computer and the suit talking to each other, he was able to pull J.A.R.V.I.S up, and things started sailing smoothly from there. Luckily the computer wasn't so bad that it didn't have a microphone, because the coms in his suit were completely shot. And that's what he was tinkering with at the moment while J.A.R.V.I.S was running analysis on the suit to see if it was even salvagable. 

"Are you hungry?" a voice came from behind him, causing him to jump from his seat, dropping everything he had in his hands. He placed a hand over his heart and took a deep breath, closing his eyes willing his heart rate to slow. 

"Jesus Christ," he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said from behind him. "I knocked. I said your name several times. You didn't hear me."

He shook his head, waving his hand in the air, dismissing her worries. "No, no, don't be sorry. I get like that. I get way too into my work, and I tune everything else out. My--" he paused, and he wasn't entirely why he said what he did next, but it just came right out of his mouth like it was natural, "assistant, Pepper, startles me all the time. And she's around me every day. It's definitely not your fault. Now what were you asking?"

"I was asking if you were hungry. I don't have much food in the house, as I was planning to be gone for a few days for the holiday, but we can go into town, the bar should be open. We can grab a bite there."

"What time is it?" Tony asked.

"It's half past seven. You've been out here for a couple hours. If you're not hungry now, I can just go out and pick up some take away from the bar and you can eat when you're ready."

Tony shook his head, wiping his hands on the rag he found in the shed. The shed was full of old tools and workshop amenities. He wondered if they came with the place when she bought it, or if the mysterious boyfriend/husband was the owner of all the things in the shed. "No, I could eat. It's going to be a while before J.A.R.V.I.S finishes analyzing what's wrong with the suit, so I can leave."

Hermione nodded. "Okay, well, I don't have a car, so we'll need to walk, is that okay? Are you up for it after your long walk yesterday?"

Tony smiled at her little dig. "Of course. I'm always up for a little fresh air."

He stood up from the bench, flipping off the space heater, and moved next to her. He watched as she closed the shed behind them, replacing the chain and the lock before turning to lead them into town. 

"How long have you lived here?" He asked as they made their way to the main drag.

"About six years," she answered. 

"What brought you to Rose Hill, Tennessee of all places?"

Hermione shrugged. "I just needed somewhere...new. I needed to get away from my life in England, so I closed my eyes and pointed at an atlas, and this is where my finger landed, so this is where I moved."

Tony laughed. "Seriously?"

She nodded. "I know, it's silly, but I almost feel like I was meant to move here. When I got to town, the librarian was retiring, so I got a job right away. And I've been the librarian here ever since."

Tony looked over at her, pretending to appraise her. "Librarian. Hmm. Yeah, I can see that."

Hermione laughed, playfully shoving him. "Don't make fun. It's a wonderful job. It's steady, uninteresting work, and I get to be surrounded by books, which I love."

"No, I get it," Tony said. "I'm actually a little envious of your steady, uninteresting job."

"Iron Man, jealous of a librarian? Now I've heard everything."

Tony shrugged. "Being Iron Man isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Hermione nodded, "No, I can understand that."

The two of them continued in silence for a few more blocks as they approached downtown. As they walked, Tony looked at the buildings, admiring the architecture. The buildings were all old, brick buildings lining either side of the street. They seemed to be businesses on the bottom floor, and housing on the top. You didn't get to see buildings like this very often in either New York or Malibu, and Tony basked in the normality of it all. Strolling down the street, on Christmas Eve, with a girl. Just a normal guy. Something he never was. Not growing up Tony Stark. He stopped suddenly, staring down the alley he just walked past. 

"Tony? What's wrong?" Hermione asked doubling back to where stopped.

"What's that scorch mark on the wall?"

"Oh, that was so tragic. A homeless man, a veteran, actually, caught on fire while he was sleeping, and he sort of exploded, I guess? No one really knows, they're speculating maybe he was smoking and had something flammable on his clothes. It happened a little while back. They still don't know the exact cause. I'm shocked to see that there's still scorch marks on the buildings actually," Hermione explained.

Tony stepped into the alley way to get a closer look at the marks.

"What's wrong? You're looking at those marks really closely."

"These marks, they're almost identical to the ones that are left over after a Mandarin bombing."

Hermione took a step closer to Tony, suddenly not feeling safe in her own town. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I think I found the connection between The Mandarin and your town."


	5. Chapter 4

Hermione couldn't help but continuously look around the bar as she and Tony ate. After the revelation that Tony might have found the connection between Rose Hill and The Mandarin, they had continued their walk to the bar in silence, and only spoke to order their meals once at their destination. 

She looked over at Tony as he sat eating his burger and sipping his beer. He was constantly looking around, observing their surroundings, looking at anyone who remotely glanced their way. And it didn't help that there were several people who were looking their way. 

"They're looking over here because they recognize you. They're wondering what a celebrity like you is doing in a small town like this."

Tony looked over at her. "What'd you say?"

"I said you're a celebrity, that's why they're all looking at you."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, yeah that's it. I need to stop being so fucking paranoid."

"No, I get it. I'm just as paranoid as you," she moved her chair so that it was no longer directly across from him and instead was sitting right next to him. "I mean, if you're right, if that poor man was tied to The Mandarin somehow, that means that someone in my town, someone I see on a daily basis must be tied to him in some way as well," she whispered to him.

"I know," Tony whispered back. "And now I'm watching everyone here wondering if they're the one."

"We can't do that, just suspect everyone. I won't get any sleep if I have to constantly look over my shoulder wondering if the person across the street watering the lawn is a terrorist."

Tony sighed, turning to fully face her. "Shit," he said. "We shouldn't even be out together. What if it is someone here right now, and they saw us together. I threatened the Mandarin, he's out to get me. What if they target you now that we've been seen together?"

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," Hermione said, placing her hand on his. "I'll be fine when you leave."

Tony shook his head. "This whole thing is completely fucked up."

"I don't disagree," Hermione said, taking a bite of her food. "But you'll figure it out. From what I've seen, you always do. You'll figure it out and then save the day."

Tony gave her a half smile. "Yep, that's what I do. The mighty Iron Man coming in to save the day."

Hermione watched as Tony stopped eating and just stared down at the food left on his plate. She recognized the look he had on his face. It was one that she and everyone who fought in the Wizarding War wore on their own faces for years after the war ended. 

"Hey, want to get out of here?" she asked. "Go back to my place, see if your whatever is done calibrating your suit?"

Tony let out a little chuckle. "J.A.R.V.I.S and analyzing. Yes, let's get out of here. I'm not hungry anymore anyway."

Hermione walked up to the bar to settle the tab when she turned around to return to the table, she saw Tony talking to some woman. She got closer and noticed it was Cheryl, a local woman who she had minimal interaction with since moving here, but every time they interacted, it never went well. She didn't like Hermione, and Hermione had no idea why. Hermione approached the table and plastered on a smile. "Hi, Cheryl. I see you've met Tony."

Cheryl smiled a wide, obviously fake, smile. "Hermione! Why have you been hiding this wonderful specimen of a man?"

"I haven't been hiding him Cheryl, we just haven't had a chance to come into town until now."

Cheryl turned back to Tony, giving him her best flirtatious look, putting a hand on her hip. "Why don't you ditch the librarian and come with me for the night. I can show you a good time."

Tony stood up from the table, pushed past Cheryl, put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, and pulled her into his side. "Thanks for the offer, but Hermione and I need get back home. I mean there was a reason why we haven't had time to make it into town, and now that we've ingested some much needed calories, we'll just be on our way back to continue where we left of. C'mon, Mione, let's get out of here." Tony let go of her long enough for her to grab her coat off the back of the chair before throwing his arm back over her shoulder and leading her out of the bar and into the street. As soon as they were a few feet from the bar, Tony removed his arm from her shoulders.

"Sorry about that," Tony said. "I didn't mean to imply anything back there, but she just would not take no for an answer, and the tone she took with you? I just I couldn't stand for that. I didn't mean to turn all macho man territorial on you."

Hermione shrugged. "She's a bitch who has treated me like shit from the day I moved here. I'm actually a little glad to see her taken down a peg."

"Wow, England, listen to that mouth of yours. I think that's the most swears in one sentence I've heard from you in the twenty-four hours we have been acquainted. I thought you British girls were supposed to be prim and proper."

Hermione laughed. "That's a misconception," she started. She was going to say something else, something maybe a little flirtatious and cheeky when they heard rapid footsteps approaching behind them, causing them to stop in their tracks.

They turned around, were startled to see that Cheryl was behind them. Her hair was almost sparking, and her eyes, those were definitely glowing.

"Tony?" she asked, quietly, taking hold of Tony's hand.

"Yeah, I see it," he said, just as quietly. "Hey, Cheryl," he said, a bit louder. "What'cha doing?"

"You aren't going to get away that easy, Stark," Cheryl said through clenched teeth. "He gave us explicit instructions to make sure you didn't make it out of here alive."

"Who?" Tony asked taking a step toward Cheryl. "Who gave explicit instructions? The Mandarin?"

Cheryl didn't answer, she just started glowing more. Orange cracks began to form all over her body, it almost looked like they formed where her veins were. There was something inside of her. Something making her glow. 

"Run," she heard Tony say beside her, as he gripped her hand. "She's going to blow! RUN!"

They took a couple steps but it was too late for them to get far enough away. Hermione watched in horror as Cheryl lit up and like second nature she flicked her right arm and her wand came down through the sleeve of her coat, landing in her hand. At the moment Cheryl exploded in a bright light, Hermione yelled, "Protego!" forming a perfect shielding charm in front of them as the explosion burst out and they were thrown back against a parked car. She looked over and saw that Tony had been knocked unconscious from the impact. Without thinking twice, she grabbed Tony's hand and apparated them out of the street and into the living room of her house. She cast a charm to move Tony from the floor to the couch, and cast another charm to remove the torn sweater he was wearing and cover him with a blanket before she headed back to her office to floo Harry and try and explain why it probably wasn't a good idea for her to leave town. And then hope she didn't get a notice from the American Ministry for casting magic on and in front of a Muggle. It was going to be a late night.

 

Hermione was startled awake from a sound coming from the living room. She had fallen asleep in her office after flooing Harry. He was not very happy that she was going to have to miss Christmas, but when she finally explained everything that was going on, he offered his assistance in anything she needed. He even offered to move her home. He didn't like that she was living in a town where people randomly exploded. To be truthful, neither did she. She moved here to get away from things like this. And here she was, in the middle of it all. To say she wasn't please would be an understatement. She stood up from her desk chair, stretching the cricks out of her back. She was getting too old to fall asleep at her table like this. Her body just couldn't stand for it. 

She quietly opened the door into the hallway, and tried to walk quietly to check on Tony before she moved into her bedroom. She stopped when she saw that Tony was sitting up on the couch with his head in his hands, his breathing erratic. She walked with heavy footsteps down the rest of the hallway so she wasn't sneaking up on him. "Tony?" she asked as she approached. "Are you okay?"

Tony looked up at her, and she could tell in the dim light that he was completely drenched. It was all too familiar.

"Nightmare?"

Tony looked surprised. "How did you know?"

"Recognized the signs. Erratic breathing, drenched in sweat. Been there, survived that."

"What were you having nightmares about?" Tony asked.

"Long story. Too long for tonight. How about you? Is it New York?"

"How did you know?"

She shrugged. "I watched the whole thing on television. Watched as you took the bomb into that portal, and watched you free fall from the sky. Anyone who experienced something like the battle of New York by itself would experience some kind of PTSD, throw in a near death experience? There's no escaping it."

"Not near," Tony whispered so quietly that Hermione could barely hear it.

"What?" she asked moving until she was standing right next to the couch.

"Not near," he said a bit louder. "I'm pretty sure I did die. Once I let go of the weapon, and it blew up that alien ship that was controlling those robot alien things, my suit stopped functioning and I didn't have any oxygen up in that portal. I felt myself falling, and then nothing until Banner screamed in my face."

Hermione sank down on the cushion next to him on the couch. "Oh, Tony," she whispered. "Are you getting help? Seeing a therapist or something? It's not like your identity is a secret, and pretty much everyone saw what happened in New York. There wouldn't be any need for secrecy, if you found the right person, you would be able to start working through everything, and maybe you would be able to sleep through the night at least a couple nights a week."

Tony shook his head. "I don't need to talk about it. I just need to process and move on."

Hermione looked down, the blue light shining from his chest catching her attention. "What's that?" she asked.

Tony looked down. "That's my arc reactor. It powers the suit. And the electromagnet in it keeps the pieces of shrapnel in my chest from driving into my heart."

Hermione gasped. "You have pieces of shrapnel in your chest?"

"Yeah, I thought you knew everything about Tony Stark and Iron Man?"

Hermione shook her head. "I never said that. I just told you I knew who you were."

Tony smiled. "Well, Iron Man's origin story involves me surviving an ambush in Afghanistan where terrorists used one of my own weapons against my convoy after a weapons demonstration. I barely survived, and I was kidnapped and held captive until I made my first suit and got the hell out of there."

Hermione shook her head, and reached up to touch the glowing arc reactor, forgetting that Tony's chest was bare. "I'm surprised it took New York to give you nightmares when you're constantly wearing a reminder of a huge trauma. How did you work through everything after you got out of there? Did you see someone then?"

Tony shook his head, not taking his eyes off of Hermione's hand on his chest. "I changed my whole company, quit making weapons, started helping people. Made my suit, and kicked the shit out of the man who orchestrated my kidnapping. Let me tell you, that was very cathartic."

Hermione chuckled. "While beating up a villain in your tale is cathartic, and let me tell you, I know that feeling, it would probably be a good idea to find someone to talk to about everything and just process it. It doesn't have to be a professional. It could be a friend or colleague. Just someone. These issues aren't going to just resolve themselves. You're just going to continue to lose sleep, and it could be very hazardous if you were to fly around in your suit while you're sleep deprived."

Hermione stopped, realizing she was rambling, and damn, she was still touching him. And he was still shirtless. Hermione glanced down, admiring his chiseled chest and blushed, before moving to remove her hand. Just as she lifted her hand off the arc reactor, she felt Tony's hand move over hers, bringing it back. She looked up and saw Tony looking at her, intensely, his head cocked. 

Hermione opened her mouth to ask if she had said something wrong, but she didn't get a chance to say anything. Tony closed the gap between them, bringing his lips to hers. His lips were soft, but the kiss, well, it was the first one she had in a long, long time, and it fit every cliché in the book. At first she was too surprised to react, but as he applied a bit more pressure, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders, bringing them even closer together, Hermione snapped out of it, and began to actively participate in the kiss. She felt his tongue tracing her bottom lip, and she immediately opened her mouth, allowing the kiss to deepen even further. She brought her free hand up, running her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. 

Just as quickly as the kiss started, it was over. Tony broke off the kiss just as suddenly as he started it, leaping away from Hermione like she was on fire. She sat there trying to collect her breath.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. "I know I'm a bit out of practice, but--"

"I have a girlfriend," Tony blurted out from where he sat on the couch.

Hermione shook her head. "What?"

"I have a girlfriend. A serious one. She lives with me. I love her. Her name's Pepper."

"Your assistant?" Hermione asked, a sinking feeling developing in her stomach with every word uttered out of Tony's mouth. 

Tony nodded.

Hermione felt tears prickle at the back of her eyes. Of course. Everything had seemed too good to be true. Handsome, brilliant man, who happened to be a super hero, showing up at her home, and being attracted to her. Sounded too much like a contrived fairy tale story. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She refused to cry. At least in front of him. "If you have a girlfriend, why did you just kiss me? I refuse to be the other woman, I just won't do that."

"Oh, god, that's not what this is. I don't know why I kissed you. You're just so beautiful, and you're the first person to actually hear me and take my problems seriously and not just write them off as something that will just vanish with time, and shit, it just happened. I'm so sorry. If you want to kick me out to the shed, I'll sleep outside and freeze to death. I'm not that guy anymore."

"What guy?"

"The guy who cheats on his girlfriend. The womanizer. If we had met two years ago, before Afghanistan, we probably would have fucked by now," he paused and took in the look of shock on her face. "Yeah, I was that disgusting."

Hermione stood up from the couch, trying to get some distance from Tony. Because despite the fact that he had a girlfriend, she was still attracted to him, and that was still one hell of a kiss, and she just needed to process everything that was going on. "Um, you don't have to sleep in the shed, but I think I'm going to go ahead and leave and spend Christmas with my family."

Tony nodded. "Yes, of course. I don't want to keep you from that. Go. Be merry."

Hermione gave him a watery smile. "Okay, yeah, why don't we just try and get some sleep. I'll probably be gone before you wake up, but if you need to leave the house for any reason, I have a spare key in my pantry in the kitchen, just lock the door behind you."

She waited for Tony to nod in agreement before turning and walking back down the hall toward her bedroom. She closed the door behind her, and sank down on the bed, and allowed herself a bit of a cry. First time in six years that she was remotely interested in a man, and of course he was in a serious relationship. It would have been nice if he had let her in on that bit of news before kissing her. It would have made everything so much easier. 

About an hour later she quietly opened the door to the hallway and peeked out. She saw Tony laying on the couch, and from the sound of his breathing, he was sound asleep. She tiptoed across the hall to her office. The office was where she kept anything and everything magical, and she always kept the door locked. When she moved into the house, she paid a contractor to install a fireplace in that room, and then she got it hooked to the floo network to make international travel easier for her, since international apparition was such a hassle. She locked the office door behind her and walked over to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder. She stepped into the fireplace, shouted "Grimmauld Place" ash she threw down the floo powder, and disappeared in a flash of green light.


	6. Chapter 5

Tony sat up from where he was lying on the couch, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The house was quiet, so he knew that Hermione had already left for wherever she was going to spend Christmas. He felt like such an asshole. He couldn't believe he kissed her. That was such an old Tony move. Yes he found her attractive, but he was with Pepper. He loved Pepper. So why the hell did he kiss Hermione?

He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. Last night he had another nightmare about The Battle of New York. He didn't know how Hermione knew from a different room, but she did. And this nightmare was more intense than they have been in a while. Probably triggered by that woman doing the exploding earlier that night. And instead of berating him or telling him to try and get over it, she had tried to help. Well, Pepper had also suggested therapy, but there was something different about the way Hermione had suggested it. Something about the tone. Pepper's suggestion was laced in an impatient, "just get it over with so that we can all get some sleep," tone. Hermione, well, she said it in an "I've been there, I know what I'm talking about" tone. And the way she touched his arc reactor, concern for his mental health etched on her face? Well, the next thing he knew his lips were attached to hers and she was returning the kiss. Which made him feel like even more of an ass. He really didn't blame her for high tailing it out of there. 

He looked around the room and noticed that his clothes that he had arrived in were on the coffee table in front of him. He looked down, and realized he didn't remember taking off that sweater he had been wearing yesterday. In fact, he didn't remember what had happened after that woman exploded in front of him. He just remembered that they were in the street, and then the lady went kablooey, and then he was here, having his nightmare. He leaned forward picking up the remote to the television, flipping it on. He flipped channels until he found the local news.

"As we reported earlier, there was an explosion in the city of Rose Hill. Witnesses said because it was Christmas Eve, the streets were mostly empty when it happened. They report hearing a woman screaming in the streets, who they have identified as local resident Cheryl Hall. They say she was arguing with someone near a parked car, where there was suddenly a bright light and an explosion. The explosion was so intense, that all that remains of the four people who were also in the vicinity of the blast are their shadows on the walls of the building. If you know anything police are encouraging you to call the hotline on the bottom of the screen. As we all remember, this is eerily similar to the explosion tied to the suicide of Chad Davis, also of Rose Hill."

Tony shut the TV off, bringing the remote to his lips in thought. The shadows were the same as the ones at the Chinese Theater where Happy had been. Tony thought back to the photos of the crime scene he had investigated. There were dog tags on the ground near Happy. Chad Davis, also a veteran. The lady last night? He closed his eyes thinking really hard. And they snapped back open as he came to the realization that she too had dog tags dangling from her neck. All veterans. All went explodey. What was their connection? (Name of character I invented) had started glowing orange, right before she blew up. Where had he seen that before? Before his house had been attacked, Mia Hanson had come to try and tell him...something. What was it she wanted? He hadn't seen her since Bern in 1999. When she showed him her plants that...

Tony stood from the couch, grabbing his shirt and throwing it over his head. He also grabbed the coat that was hanging on the coat rack by the door as he walked out to try and get a hold of Rhodey, because he needed answers, and he was the one who would have them. And after he solved this problem with the Mandarin, he would be back here. Because he needed to find out how the hell he and Hermione not only survived, but managed to make it back to this house virtually unscathed when they had a front row seat to the fireworks. They should have been shadows on the wall, and he needed to know why they weren't.

 

 

Hermione was sat on the couch in the library of Grimmauld Place with a cup of steaming tea. She had arrived at Harry's just in time for the kids to wake up. They were so excited to see her, that she hadn't had time to explain to Harry the change of plans. As they sat around the tree and exchanged presents, he gave her the look she was so used to getting, and giving, the one that said they needed to talk. After all the presents were opened, and brunch was eaten, Ginny took the kids to the Burrow to get a head start on Christmas part two, and Harry and Hermione went into the library, Hermione's favorite room in Grimmauld.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, I am, but what are you doing here? I thought you had Iron Man had exploding people to worry about back home?"

Hermione sighed and looked down at her tea. "Would you settle for me telling you it's a long story, and we drop it?"

Harry laughed.

Hermione smiled. "Thought not." She took a deep breath before answering. "He kissed me."

Harry sat up straighter. "He kissed you, and you ran? Is this about Ron? Because Hermione, it's been six years, you're allowed to move on."

Hermione shook her head. "He kissed me. And then told me he had a girlfriend. A serious one. And that kissing me was a mistake. And then I ran."

Harry stood up and moved next to Hermione, pulling his friend into a hug. "Oh, Mione. Was he the first since..."

She nodded against his chest as she let the tears come. 

Harry hugged her tight, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Oh man, that's rough. What about the exploding people? How did you explain how you were able to survive the explosion? Did you tell him you were a witch?"

She pulled back, wiping away tears from her eyes. "No. Didn't get a chance. He woke up from a nightmare, pretty sure he's suffering from PTSD from the myriad of shite that he's dealt with since the moment he became Iron Man and has been repressing, and we talked about the nightmares, and how he became Iron man, and then next thing I know it, he's kissing me, and then he's rejecting me, and then I came here."

Harry let out a low whistle. "How do you get roped into being involved with us damaged types?"

"I must have a sign on my back that says "I fix damaged men" or something," she replied with a small smile.

"Hey, I think I get some credit for fixing this man," Ginny said, walking into the library.

Harry and Hermione laughed.

"You can have all the credit," Hermione said. "You were the only one to get through to him sixth year."

"True," Ginny said, taking a seat on the arm of the couch next to Harry. "Are you okay?" she asked looking at Hermione.

She nodded. "I will be."

"Tony Stark kissed her," Harry said, turning to Ginny.

Ginny's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"But then he promptly rejected me because he's in a committed relationship that he neglected to tell me about. Did you know he mentioned this serious girlfriend once, but referred to her as his assistant?"

"Bastard," Ginny said. "Did you tell him about..."

"Didn't really come up, Gin. Spent maybe two hours with the bloke the entire time."

"Two hours of interaction and you were already kissing? You still have it, Mione!"

Hermione blushed. "Well, don't forget about the rejection part. That's a pretty important part."

"I know," Ginny said. "But it's been six years, and you've finally found someone to kiss!"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I guess. Have you seen him?" Hermione said, smiling.

"Oy," Harry said from his place between the two women. "Please save the girl talk for the allotted time after the kids and I go to bed."

Everyone laughed, and Hermione was so glad that she decided to come. She needed this distraction.

"I hate to be the person to bring it up and ruin the good mood we have found ourselves in, but Harry, did you talk to her about her use of magic?"

Hermione sobered up quickly, and turned to Harry. "Oh, God, did the Ministry contact you about my use of magic in front of a Muggle? Why would they do that? They should contact me!"

Harry shook his head. "No, that's not it. We had been meaning to tell you this for a while, but you had been living like a Muggle for so long, barely using any magic other than for brewing, and even that has been done within your wards, that it didn't seem necessary to tell you. We figured if you changed your lifestyle, we would tell you, but we didn't want to scare you, and..." 

"Harry stop rambling," Hermione interrupted. "What's going on, you've got me all nervous."

Harry took a deep breath. "The Aurorers are pretty sure that Dolohov can track your magical signature somehow. We don't know how, but during the investigation into...well, you know, we think he's placed some kind of trace on you. And we don't know if it's from whatever he cursed you with fifth year, or something later, but we know that the connection is muted within your wards, and that's why we never told you, because you conduct all your magic in your house. But..."

"I used magic in the middle of town to save Tony and I last night. Outside of my wards," Hermione said.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, and we don't know what that means. The letters have started tapering off over the years since you moved, so maybe he's given up, let it go. But we wanted to tell you so that you're aware of your surroundings. As Head Auror I would like to recommend that you move. Get the hell out of Rose Hill, and just go. Anywhere. It doesn't have to be here. But I wouldn't stay there, not now."

Hermione nodded. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Yeah, I think you're right."

Harry and Ginny both sat up straighter, surprised.

"Really?" Harry said. "That's it? No fight?"

She shook her head. "No fight. I refuse to live where I'm looking over my shoulder again. As soon as I get home, I'll resign from the library, and I'll start packing."

"Where are you going to move?" Ginny asked. "You know you're always welcome here."

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. But I'll definitely keep you in mind." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When was this all going to stop? It had been fourteen years. When was enough enough? When would she be able to live a normal life? She opened her eyes as soon as her heart rate had returned to normal, and plastered a smile on her face. "So, let's go finish Christmas!"


	7. Chapter 6

Tony stood staring at the door to the small house in which he had spent two days over Christmas. He knew he should knock, but he didn't know what he would say once the door opened. After he started making connections, he left Hermione's house, without so much as a note of thanks, and rushed to Miami. And that's when the shit really hit the fan. There was the battle with Aldridge Killian, Pepper being injected with Extremis, the destruction of all of his suits, and the removal of the shrapnel and arc reactor from his chest. So much had happened in the short weeks since he was here last. He had no idea how he would be received, since their last interaction was their late night kiss, and the fact that he completely destroyed her shed when he called his suit to him, not thinking about it being locked inside.

He looked down at the gift bag in his hand. It wasn't much, but he felt he needed to do something to show his gratitude for her opening up her home to him. He hoped she was home. He didn't want to have to go do this in the library. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his hand and rapped on the door. 

The door swung open, and Tony had to smile at the look of utter surprise on Hermione's face. She was dressed more casually than when they were together at Christmas. She was wearing an old t-shirt that had seen better days and a pair of yoga pants, her hair thrown into a messy bun at the top of her head. "Tony?" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Um," Tony said, shifting his weight between his feet. "Hi. Can I come in?"

Hermione looked behind her quickly, and then opened the door wider to let him in. "Sure, come on in. Please excuse the mess."

Tony stepped over the threshold and was taken aback. There were moving boxes everywhere. Most of the stuff he had seen on shelves a few weeks prior were now gone. He turned around and faced Hermione who hadn't moved away from the door. "You're moving," he stated, rather than asked.

Hermione nodded as she moved into the room, "I am," she said. 

"To a different place in town? Or...?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm not quite sure yet," she answered. "Definitely leaving Rose Hill, though."

"Oh," he said. "Is it because of," he made explosion sounds and motions with hands.

She laughed. "Kind of, it's hard to explain."

"Well, this seems very sudden," Tony said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm fine, thank you for offering though. What are you doing here exactly?"

Tony held up the gift bag with the pointer finger of his right hand. "Just a little token of thanks for putting up with me."

"You really didn't have to do that. You were here for a little over twenty-four hours, you didn't really inconvenience me."

"Well, I insist that you accept this token. I did fly all the way out here to deliver it in person."

Hermione smiled and walked over to retrieve the gift, and sat down with it on the couch. "Please, have a seat, I'm sorry I didn't offer it before."

Tony sat down next to her on the couch, and looked around. The place was almost cleared out, if he had come just a day or two later he was sure she would have been gone and he wouldn't have any idea where she would be or how to contact her. Thousands of questions came to his mind, and they were itching to come out. He turned and watched as Hermione removed the tissue paper from the bag. He bounced his leg, part anxiety as he hoped she liked what was in the bag, and part impatience, because he came here in person to get answers, and he was desperate to get to the point where he would be able to ask them. 

Hermione laughed as she pulled out a brand new top of the line laptop. "You really didn't like my crummy computer did you?"

Tony smiled. "It was ancient. I'm doing you a favor here. Welcome to the twenty-first century."

"It's nice, thank you. I'll have to find a reason to use a computer at home, I usually don't get on much while not at work. I'm not even sure if I'll have the Internet wherever I end up."

"Well, you don't need to worry about that because that laptop doesn't need a typical Internet connection. I've put it on a data plan, and it has 4G capabilities. I've also programmed all of my contact information into the machine, and it has a connection straight to J.A.R.V.I.S so if you ever need anything, you'll be one button away from getting a hold of me."

Hermione smiled. "I can't think of any situation where I'll need Iron Man to come to the rescue, but I'll definitely keep it in mind."

Tony cleared his throat and looked away. "Well, I'm technically not Iron Man anymore, so I hope you won't need him. But if you ever need Tony Stark, you'll know where to find me."

Hermione set the laptop box down on the floor next to her feet, turning to face Tony completely. "Not technically Iron Man anymore? What does that mean?"

"It means that I gave it up." He unzipped his heavy winter coat, and lifted up his shirt, exposing a large scar in the center of his chest. "After Christmas I went in and had the shrapnel removed from my chest, so I no longer need the Arc Reactor and the electromagnet in my chest. I also blew up all my suits. No more Iron Man."

Hermione's mouth dropped open, and she shook her head, her eyes drawn up in confusion. "But why? Was it the PTSD? The anxiety? Did it get the best of you?"

Tony shook his head. "No, and I'm seeing someone about all of that by the way, it's helping me marginally. But no. Pepper got hurt. She was kidnapped and she got hurt. When I saw that Pepper survived what I thought was a fatal fall, and we defeated the bad guys, I destroyed all my suits to show Pepper that she means more to me than Iron Man. I underwent the surgery and we've decided to...move on."

Tony looked up to find Hermione staring at him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but it didn't seem good. 

"You just gave up being Iron Man, for your girlfriend," she said finally.

"Well, yeah. I love her, and I don't want her to get hurt again."

"Are you going to be able to keep this promise? The promise to never be Iron Man again?"

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, it'll be nice to live a normal life, free from the stresses of evil trying to attack me because I'm this super hero."

Hermione looked at him, shaking her head.

"What?" he said. "I don't like that look that you're giving me."

Hermione sighed. "You can't just stop being Iron Man."

"Yes I can. Suit, gone. Chest, back to mostly normal other than this gnarly scar."

"Yes, but how long until you're back in the suits? Iron Patriot doesn't have an arc reactor in his chest, and he flies around in a metal suit saving people just fine."

"War Machine," Tony muttered.

"Whatever," Hermione said. "What I'm saying is I don't think you'll be able to quit being Iron Man. I think that Iron Man is a huge part of you and you won't be able to give that up. I give it a few months before you're back in your lab, building a new suit. Because you can't just ignore who you are. I don't know you very well, but from what I do know about you, I think your personality is too strong to just give up a large portion of it."

Tony flew up from the couch, "You're right, you don't know a thing about me," he stated firmly through clenched teeth. "Are you jealous? Is that what this is?"

Hermione shook her head, struggling to keep up with the abrupt change of direction the conversation was heading in. "What?! No!"

"Are you sure, because I tell you I did something in order to make life with my girlfriend safer, to make sure our relationship lasts, and you immediately start trying to convince me that my decision was wrong. It almost sounds like you're jealous of Pepper and you're trying to convince me to sabotage my relationship so that you can have a shot with me."

"Oh for fucks sake, Tony, your kiss was good, but it wasn't that good. Get over yourself. I'm saying what I'm saying because it's impossible to just get rid of a part of yourself. You can't just stop being you. You'll always have an itch for that part of you. It will always be there niggling in the back of your mind. And from what little I know about you, I don't think you'll be able to repress the urge from putting that suit back on and being the hero. I don't think its part of your personality."

Tony glared at her. Part of him knew she was right. She was so right in her analysis of him. And that made him angry. She barely knew him, and yet, she could read him like a book. He didn't know why it made him feel so irrationally angry, probably because she could not only read him, but read him accurately, and he knew virtually nothing about her. Nothing. Not one thing. And he's pretty sure that's why he did what he did next.

"How did we get back to your house after GI Barbie exploded from all the Extremis in her body?"

The look of genuine shock and panic on Hermione's face made Tony smile internally. Jackpot.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb, I know you're not. You're way too intuitive to be anything short of a genius. I should know. I am one myself."

"I'm not playing dumb, and I'm not a genius. Above average intelligence, maybe, but not a genius."

"Don't," Tony said, firmly. "Don't change the subject. It's been bothering me for weeks. When Extremis causes someone to explode, the temperature reaches upwards of three thousand degrees. People get vaporized and made into mere shadows on the walls. We were ground zero. Right in front of the bitch. And yet, I woke up. We were here, and the only evidence that something even happened to us was the giant goose egg on the back of my head. So I ask you again, how did we get back here?"

Hermione stood up from the couch, and began to pace. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head, as she chewed on her thumb nail and walked back and forth in what little space wasn't taken up by furniture and boxes. She finally stopped and looked at him. "Can I trust you to keep this to yourself, and not freak out about anything I'm about to show or tell you?"

"I promise you that you can trust me, I can't promise that I won't freak out. But also keep in mind I fought aliens from another dimension, I know a Norse god, a Hulk, and a man who was frozen in ice and revived after seventy years. There's not much you can do or say that will freak me out at this point in my life."

Hermione nodded. "Fair enough." She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and then looked him right in the eye. "I'm a witch. I've been living here for six years, mostly as a muggle, our term for non-magical beings, but I've always carried my wand with me, out of habit. When Cheryl looked like she was going to go nuclear, I pulled out my wand, cast a protection charm, and then apparated us here."

Tony stared at her, trying to process everything she had just told him. "Okay, so I think we need to back up a bit. You're a what now?"

"A witch. I was born this way. There are thousands of us around the world. I was born to two non-magical parents, but many in our world are born to other witches and wizards. It's a genetic trait. The magic is in us, and we channel it through our wands, and cast spells."

Tony sank back onto the couch. "Witches and magic spells are real? That's a lot to wrap my mind around, yet, I'm not too surprised given, you know, aliens and gods are apparently real."

"Yeah, I want you to know, I didn't purposely keep this information from you. I planned to tell you how we got back here, but,"

"Yeah, things got weird, and I took off to go fight evil."

"Yep."

"Can I see it?"

"See what?"

"The wand."

Hermione flicked her arm, and the wand came down to rest in her right hand. She handed it to Tony. "My original wand was Vine and Dragon-Heartstring. It was taken from me during the war, so after the war ended, I went and got a new one. I was paired with another Vine, but this one has a unicorn core."

Tony held the piece of wood in his hand and marveled at the craftsmanship. It was so delicate. "This thing looks like it could easily snap in half."

"Oh believe me, it can. I've witnessed too many wands snapping in my lifetime."

Tony handed back the wand. "You mentioned a war. What war?"

"It's a long story."

Tony leaned back against the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "I don't have anywhere else to be, so tell me about your world."


	8. Chapter 7

"So, you're fifteen and dueling hand to hand with middle aged men?" Tony asked before taking a bite of his pizza.

Hermione wanted to tell him about the war, but first she had to explain who Harry was and why he was important and how she was tied to him. And of course he asked a million questions, so it was taking longer than she initially thought it would. After about an hour she offered to order a pizza, and they walked down together to pick it up from the local pizza parlor. They had to walk past the spot where Cheryl exploded, and she could see the panic in his eyes as they walked past the massive crater in the streets and the shadows on the wall. She hurried him past both times, trying to keep talking in an attempt to keep his mind off of everything. She hoped it wouldn't trigger a panic attack.

When they returned, she picked up the story in fifth year, and just like with every step of the story thus far, he baffled at how young she was when she went through her adventures with Harry. 

"Yes, I was fifteen."

Tony shook his head. "I can't imagine throwing, what was it you called them, hexes? At children."

"These were not just benign hexes, either. These were curses, meant to kill," Hermione said.

Tony choked on the bite he just took. Once he gained control again, he looked at her, eyes bugging out of his head. "What?! Why on earth would they be trying to kill you? You were children!"

Hermione shrugged. "We were children interfering with The Dark Lord's plans to take over the Wizarding World," she said. "And they themselves were very dark wizards and witches. We were aiding the person prophesied to defeat Voldemort. It's only natural they would try and stop us by any means."

"How did you get out of there?"

"Dumbledore and The Order came in and rescued us. Not before I took a pretty nasty curse to the chest. And at the cost of Harry's godfather, Sirius', life. Harry was pretty torn up for a while after that. But we got the school back and Dumbledore reinstated. And then we all parted for the summer."

Tony leaned forward in his seat. "And you were okay? The curse you took to your chest? You're...okay?"

Hermione smiled. "It was sixteen years ago, Tony, and I'm sitting right in front of you."

Tony smiled shaking his head. "You know what I mean. Did it leave any lasting damages? What kind of curse was it?"

Hermione shrugged. "That's the thing. No one knows what I was hit with. It's baffled all the healers and the Aurors, the magical law enforcement, for years. They don't know what he hit me with. They managed to heal the wound, but..."'

"But?" Tony asked.

She sighed. "But, apparently the Aurors have started thinking recently that maybe whatever curse he threw at me placed some kind of trace on me, and whenever I use my magic he's able to find out where I am."

"Wait," he said, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "What do you mean he can find you? They haven't arrested this man? He's essentially a war criminal. Don't your people have prisons?"

"They do, but they still haven't been able to find him after all these years. He's always one step ahead of the Aurors. After the war he started sending me these letters. Threatening me. Telling me to look out that he was going to come and finish the job. The letters were coming weekly. I would turn them into the Aurors, they would try to trace them, they would get a lead and then it would fizzle out. And then they started trickling off. They were coming monthly, and then bi-monthly and then yearly. I was able to live a normal life. Ron and I," she paused swallowing the lump that was slowly forming in her throat. "Ron and I got married. He joined his brother working in the joke shop, I started working as a lower level employee at the Ministry. We were happy. We got pregnant." Hermione cut off, her voice breaking. "I'm sorry, just give me a minute."

Tony watched as she wiped tears from under her eyes. He thought back to when he was there over Christmas Eve. The sweater she gave him to wear. A sweater with a giant R on the front. The obvious signs that there wasn't a child living in the house. "Hermione? What happened?"

"We were out walking in Diagon Alley, and a man in a hooded cloak stepped out in front of us. He didn't say anything, just raised his wand and fired a curse at us. Ron," she choked on a sob. "Ron reacted faster than I did, he jumped in front of me and used his wand to kind of push me out of the way, and as he turned to try and block the curse, it hit him. He was gone before he hit the pavement," she started sobbing in earnest. 

Tony moved so that he was right next to her, putting his arm over her shoulders, pulling her into him. "The baby?"

"I wasn't very far along, we hadn't really even had a chance to tell anyone. The healers told me the stress of losing my husband caused me to miscarry."

Tony cursed and wrapped his other arm around her pulling her tightly against his chest. He held her while she cried, and he couldn't help but think back to a few weeks prior when he thought he had lost Pepper into the fire. The feeling as if his heart had been physically ripped from his chest. It was the worst feeling he had ever experienced, and he was determined to never feel it again, which was why he gave up being Iron Man. And here was this woman, who grew up in the middle of a war, survived it, married the love of her life, and then had him and their unborn child ripped from her during a time of peace. She wasn't even seeking out danger, and had everything taken from her. What in the world made him think the same wouldn't happen to him? Was it foolish to destroy all of the suits, the one thing he would be able to use to protect himself and Pepper from a rogue villain intent on destroying him? Just because he decided to quit being Iron Man didn't mean that everyone would get the memo and just leave him alone. What if he just made a huge mistake and had just left him and Pepper even more vulnerable than before? 

Hermione stopped crying, and pulled away, wiping her face furiously with her hands. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I did not intend to break down on you like that."

"No, don't apologize," Tony said. "Never apologize for mourning your loved ones."

She gave him a watery smile. "Thanks, thanks for just listening."

"Any time," he said. "So, did they catch the guy?"

She shook her head. "Nope, and that's when I decided to move here. Get a new start. Live like a muggle. I just couldn't keep looking over my shoulder anymore. I couldn't stand all the looks of pity I got from my friends or everyone else in the Wizarding World because I was a bloody war hero and a fucking celebrity. So I packed up and I moved here."

"And now you're leaving, because they caught him?" Tony said, his voice hopeful.

"I'm leaving because when I used magic to save us from Cheryl exploding, Harry is pretty sure I basically sent a homing beacon to Dolohov, the Death Eater who cursed me, and probably murdered Ron. He hasn't tried to contact me, but the second I got back here from Christmas I tendered my resignation and started packing up my house. It's slow going because even though Harry said he's pretty sure Dolohov can't find me through my wards, I'm too paranoid to use magic. I don't want to send more signals leading him to my location."

"Wait, so this crazed Death Eater is still after you? How do you know?"

"Because I still get letters from him every couple months."

Tony groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. "Where are you going?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know yet. Harry offered me a room at his home, but even though his house his huge, I don't want to impose. Ron's parents offered a room in their home, but I don't know if I can handle living there. Too many amazing memories of living there with Ron immediately after the war. So I don't know. This is the first time in my life that I don't have a plan. That I don't know what I'm going to do, because I'm caught off guard, and I don't know what to do."

"Come and live with me at Stark Tower in New York," Tony blurted out before he even knew what he was saying.

"What?" Hermione said. 

"Come and live at Stark Tower in New York," he said again, with more confidence. "I have have plenty of room, my house in Malibu is at the bottom of the ocean, so I'm living there full time now. It's just me, Pepper and Bruce there right now, so it's not like you'll be intruding. I have state of the art security, and you would be able to add whatever magic mumbo jumbo you need in order to keep Dog Face out, and it's New York City. It's huge, you'll be able to work wherever you want, or not at all, because you would be living rent free. What do you say?"

Hermione looked at him and chewed on her lip. The offer was so tempting. He was right. New York City was huge. Not only was it huge, it was also home of one of the larger wizarding populations in the United States. She would easily be able to start a mail order potions business from the tower and hardly have to venture out. It would be a good stepping stone for her, until she could get back on her feet, get her bearings and try and think of the next step, without having to be somewhere that reminded her of Ron. But on the other hand, she would be essentially be living with her crush, for lack of a better word, and his girlfriend, which would be awkward as hell. Of course, maybe being around him more would cure her of her crush. He was sure to have some quality to quell her interest. Or being around him would only stoke the fire. She looked into his eyes to see the sincere expression in them, almost begging her to agree, and she caved.

"Alright, I'll do it," she said. 

Tony broke into a grin. "Great! I'll stick around and help you pack."

"You really don't need to..." 

"I insist. This way I can call and arrange for a mover to come and get all of your stuff, and it can meet us back in New York. This way you can just travel with me in my plane, and I don't have to send it for you or anything."

Hermione shook her head, a smile on her face. "You do realize that I'm a witch. I can easily flick my wand and have my stuff all packed and ready. Shrink it down small enough to fit in my backpack and then apparate to New York and find your infamous tower, right?"

Tony returned her smile, "Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

Hermione laughed, and Tony joined her, moving over to the boxes. He was about to start putting some of her dishes in the box when he turned back to her, a serious look on his face. "When we first met, you were able to recognize that I had a nightmare because you said you had experience with them. Are your nightmares of that day, when..." he trailed off. 

She shook her head. "Sometimes, but not often. No, my nightmares are of something so much worse."

Tony shook his head, turning fully to face her. "What could possibly be worse than that?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "The last year of the war, what was supposed to be my seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and I were on the run. Voldemort was hell bent on killing Harry, and he had taken over the ministry and was systematically trying to rid the world of people like me, muggleborns. So we were on the run living in a tent for months. We had found out that there was a curse on Voldemort's name, and were so careful to not say it, until we weren't. Immediately snatchers appeared, and they caught us. I was able to disguise Harry enough to lead to doubt of his identity. They took us to where the Death Eaters were holed up. Where I was tortured," she paused and took a deep breath. "This Death Eater, Bellatrix LeStrange, tortured me on the floor of her brother-in-law's house because she thought we had taken something out of her vaults. She used this curse, the Cruciatus, that when used makes it feel like electric currents are coursing through your body. She used a cursed knife and carved a slur onto my body, so that I would always remember my place in the world. And then I was rescued by a House Elf who sacrificed his life so that the three of us would get out of that Manor alive so we could win the war. That's what I have nightmares about, even fourteen years later."

TOny shook his head. "Shit. No wonder you can talk about what I'm experiencing with such authority. You've been there. Fuck. Of all the things for us to find out we have in common, being tortured by a crazed lunatic is not one that I would have picked," Tony quipped, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, what are the odds that of all the people you could have met here in Rose Hill, it would be someone who knows almost exactly what you're experiencing?"

Tony shook his head, "I don't know, but I'm glad that the stars aligned and we met, because I think we're going to be a great resource for one another." He gave her a smile, which she returned, before turning back to the boxes. "So, should we pack, and get out of this place?"


	9. Chapter 8

Hermione stood at the base of Stark Tower and looked up. And up. And up. She turned and looking at Tony, lifted one eyebrow.

Tony shrugged. "I told you I had plenty of room."

"How many floors are there?"

"Ninety-Three," Tony said, no hesitation. "You're not scared of heights are you? Because the top ten floors are living quarters for the Avengers. I was going to put you on Thor's floor. He's hardly on Earth anyway."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think my brain is keeping up with what is going on right now. Everything is happening so fast, I'm just not processing everything, and now I'm living where the Avengers live, I just," she broke off, taking a deep breath.

"Hey," Tony said, putting his arms on her shoulders, and turning her to face him. "Breathe. I don't need you passing out in front of my building, it's bad for press."

Hermione laughed.

"That's better. No worrying. Just moving. I'll go in the lobby and wait, you do what you need to do out here to make this building a safe place for you to live, and then I'll take you up to your floor."

Tony squeezed her shoulders and gave her a small smile before walking through the front door of the building. Hermione took a deep breath and pulled out her wand, cast a quick notice me not charm, and began placing her wards around the building. She should have warned Tony it wouldn't be as quick as he probably assumed. She moved around the entire complex, casting her wards around the perimeter. When she found herself back at the entrance of the building, she ended the notice me not charm, and tucked the wand back up the sleeve of her shirt. She took a deep breath, made sure she had a hold on her bag, and walked through the doors. She looked around before noticing Tony standing in the corner talking to someone. She walked closer and noticed that she vaguely recognized the man, but couldn't really place him. As she approached, Tony looked up, giving her a smile.

"Hermione," he said walking toward her, closing the gap. "I would like you to meet Doctor Bruce Banner, he lives on the floor above the one you'll be staying on. And he heavily utilizes the lab, which you have expressed interest in."

Hermione smiled, offering her hand to Bruce. "It's really nice to meet you, I'm Hermione."

Bruce took her hand, "Nice to meet you. How do you know Tony?"

"She's the one who took me in when my suit flew me to Rose Hill. She very generously offered up her shed and couch until I fixed the tin can and was able to go after Killian."

"Oh, wow. That was really nice of you, considering the way he tells the story he basically broke into your home."

Hermione shrugged. "I couldn't just let him freeze to death in the snow, even if I was tempted. I mean, I would be labeled a villain by the press. Imagine the headlines: Unassuming Small Town Girl Defeats Iron Man. I would have would be villains knocking at my door asking for advice to defeat the rest of The Avengers, it would be a nightmare."

Bruce laughed. "I like you. You'll be a nice change in the lab from this guy."

"Hey, standing right here," Tony protested. "And I would like to take this moment to remind you that you both are living here rent free and have unlimited access to a state of the art lab. So, I would be careful to not bruise my ego too much."

Hermione and Bruce shared a look and broke into a fit of giggles. It was in that moment Hermione felt that she had made the right choice. Maybe living with The Avengers wouldn't be as overwhelming as she had once thought. They were just regular people when they weren't off saving the world from alien invasions. After years of living by herself, isolated from everyone, not forming connections, this would be a nice change of pace. Sharing a lab would take some getting used to, but she would adjust. She looked at Bruce. She just met the man, but she could already tell the two of them would get along. There was just something about him that made her feel like they were kindred spirits. 

"So," Tony said. "If the two of you are finished laughing at my expense, how about we show Hermione up to her floor?"

Hermione and Bruce looked at each other and broke into giggles again.

"For Christ sake. You two just met, and you're already ganging up on me. I don't like this," Tony said, walking over to the elevator bay and pushing a button. "You two aren't allowed to spend too much time in the lab together. You might start leaving caricatures of me around the lab, because you guys are acting like children."

"Caricatures, that's a good idea, I hadn't thought about that before, how about you, Hermione?" Bruce said, a wide grin on his face. 

"Nope, I hadn't thought of that. Usually, you know, I just work in my lab, but now I'll just have to think of all the ridiculous ways I can draw Tony," Hermione replied, looking over at Tony, with a smile.

The elevators opened, and Tony walked in, and pulled out a key card for the elevator to scan before pushing the button for floor ninety. Hermione and Bruce followed him into the elevator. The doors closed behind them, and the elevator began its rise.

"So, I'll get you a card tonight, that way you can come and go as you please," Tony explained. "You'll need it to get to any floor eighty four and higher. Eighty-four houses the labs, which there are three of, and you can use whichever one isn't currently in use. Eighty-five has the gym and locker rooms, feel free to use them if you want, they're not just for the Avengers, but don't be surprised if you walk into a few of us sparring from time to time. Eighty-six is the common lounge, you're welcome to hang out there as much as you want, again, not just for Avengers. There's a bar and a small kitchen. Eighty-seven is Natasha, eighty-eight is Clint, Eighty-nine is Cap, ninety is you, ninety-one is Bruce, Ninety-two is Rhodey, and ninety-three is me."

"I'm never going to remember all of that," Hermione said.

"Just remember that eighty-four through eighty-six are common areas, and you're on ninety," Bruce said. 

"And I'm on the very top, but I'm in the lab a lot, so if you need anything you can typically find me there," Tony said.

The elevator dinged, coming to a stop on her floor and opening. Tony and Hermione stepped out, but Bruce hung back. 

"You coming?" Tony asked.

"Nah, I'm just going to head back to the lab and work on a few things. I'll let you get her settled. It was really nice meeting you, Hermione. I look forward to working beside you," Bruce reached and pushed a button and the elevator doors closed.

"He seems nice. Which Avenger is he? He seems familiar, but I just can't place him," she asked.

"The Green Guy," Tony answered.

Hermione did a double take and stared at the closed elevator doors. "He's The Hulk?" she asked in almost disbelief.

"Yeah, hard to believe, right?"

"He's so soft spoken and unassuming!"

"Well, he is a scientist when he's not hulking out. I mean, that's kind of how he got in that problem in the first place," Tony said. 

Hermione shook her head. "This all seems so surreal."

"Give it a couple days, and you'll get used to it. I'm surprised this even affects you, considering you're already part of an extraordinary world of your own."

"I know, but this seems different somehow."

"Probably because we're all man-made weapons, and you're from a world where your powers all occur naturally."

"That may be it."

"Well, want me to give you a quick tour of your new living space?"

"Sure," Hermione said.

Tony took her through the apartment showing her all the technological advancements he and Pepper had installed after they finished the remodel of the tower after the Battle of New York. She felt a little awkward with the idea of living in an apartment that was customized for Thor, but Tony reassured her that he was living on Asgard right now, and if he came back, they would figure something out if she was still living there. 

"So, that's the tour. Do you want to just hang out here and get settled? Or do you want to come with me to the lab?"

Hermione smiled. "Definitely the lab. I would like to set up a couple cauldrons to start some bases for some potions so I can get my business up and running as soon as possible."

"Yeah, no problem. Listen, it may be easier to tell Bruce right off the bat that you're a witch, so you don't have to try and hide anything. The three of us are going to be working down there a lot around each other, he's bound to find out one way or another. It would probably be easier if he just knows from the start."

"Yeah, no that's fine. I don't want to cause any problems here, or have to sneak around. The more honest we are about everything from the get go the better."

"Well, for the most part. Unless you want to get roped into working for our government, if you see a bald black man with an eye patch, you're a normal human being. Or else you'll be working for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Bald Black Man with an Eye Patch, lie to him, got it," Hermione said as they stepped into the elevator and headed down to the lab.

"I mean unless you want to be an Avenger. I'm sure we could make room for you."

Hermione shook her head vigorously. "Definitely not. I've had enough of playing the hero to last a lifetime. I'm good with living a quiet life from now on. Why do you think I moved from Rose Hill? The thought of having to fight Dolohov if he showed up on my front porch after everything I've gone through made me feel sick to my stomach. No, if I have to obliviate this S.H.I.E.L.D man into forgetting who I am, I will do that before I agree to join your team. No offense."

"Hey, preaching to the choir. I quit being Iron Man, remember?"

The elevator doors opened at the lab floor and they walked out, and Hermione's mouth dropped open. The lab really was state of the art. She hoped her magic didn't mess with all of the electronics that were in these rooms. The lab floor was made up of three separate labs that were all interconnected. They walked into the far lab where Bruce was hunched over a notebook making notes while glancing up at a projection screen that had a bunch of equations on it. Tony cleared his throat and Bruce looked up.

"Oh, hi," he said, taking his glasses off. "I thought you would want to get settled and rested."

"I need to get a few things started down here for the business I'm going to be starting, things that take time to..."

"Oh for fucks sake, I thought we were being honest. Bruce, Hermione is a witch and she's going to be running a potions by mail business out of the lab, and she needs to get her potions started in order to be able to get her business started," Tony interrupted.

Hermione smacked him in the stomach with the back of her hand. "I was going to be honest, ass. I was going to break it to him a little easier. Because when you just blurt things out like that without any indication that things are amiss, you get that," she gestured over at Bruce, who was staring at her, slack jawed, his eyes screwed up in confusion.

"You're a...witch?" Bruce asked. "Like 'I'll get you my pretty?'" He asked, imitating the Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, I'm a witch. And I hope I'm not like the Wicked Witch. Tony would you say I'm a Wicked Witch?"

Tony brought his hand up and stroked his goatee, looking thoughtfully off into the distance. "Um, no," he said. "You're definitely more of a Glinda. The Wicked Witch would have made me freeze in the snow."

They all laughed. When the laughter died down, Hermione opened her mouth to ask Bruce if he wanted her to explain anything else, but was interrupted.

"Tony, there you are. I was..." a tall woman with strawberry blonde hair walked into the lab. She was dressed impeccably in a pencil skirt and blouse and high heels. She stopped short when she realized that Tony wasn't alone. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." She turned to Hermione. "Um, hi, I don't think I've met you before."

"Um, Pepper, this is Hermione, she's the one who took care of me while I was in Rose Hill. Hermione this is Pepper, my girlfriend," Tony said.

Of course. This was the girlfriend. Of course she was bloody gorgeous. Hermione forced a smile on her face, and offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Pepper ignored her hand and turned to Tony. "What's she doing here? I didn't know you were bringing her back with you, I thought you were just going to give her the computer and the money to fix her door?"

"When I got there she was packing up to move, and she didn't have anywhere else to go, so I offered her Thor's apartment until she could get back on her feet," Tony explained. 

"Did you know she was moving before you went down there?" Pepper asked, still ignoring everyone else in the room. Hermione glanced over at Bruce and he looked about as awkward as she felt. He was trying to look anywhere but at the couple in the middle of the room. 

"Pepper, I hadn't talked to her since she left to spend Christmas with her family, the day I left for Miami. I showed up on her doorstep and she was packing. She had to move very suddenly because her abusive ex had found out where she lived, and needed to get out of there. She didn't have anywhere else to go, and since we have the room, I offered her a place here." 

"Uh huh, well, can we go talk? I have some stuff to talk to you about the R and D department," Pepper said.

Tony nodded. "Yeah of course." He looked around Pepper at Bruce and Hermione. "I'll catch up with you guys later. Bruce will you help Hermione with anything else she needs?"

"Yeah of course," Bruce said. 

Pepper turned and walked out of the room, Tony following closely behind her. They waited while they heard the doors for the elevator open and close before turning to each other.

"Did you really move because of an abusive ex?" Bruce asked. 

Hermione shook her head. "No, not at all. I mean, I moved because a Dark Wizard has been threatening me for years, and my friend was pretty sure he tracked me down. But he's not my ex."

"Oh man, that actually sounds worse. Why would Tony lie to Pepper about that? I thought you guys wanted to be honest?"

Hermione shook her head. "I have no idea." She said, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. If Tony felt it was better to be honest about her being a witch and why she was there with everyone in the tower from the get go, why did he feel the need to lie to Pepper about who she was and why she was there?


	10. Chapter 9

Tony collapsed into the couch in the lounge, leaning his head back against the back of the couch, a glass of scotch in his left hand, he closed his eyes and tried to will away the headache threatening to form. He was exhausted. He couldn't remember the last time he was so involved in the day to day running of Stark Industries. It was definitely way before he fully committed to being Iron Man. Yet, for the last few months he had barely had time to sit down and breathe. Pepper had him in every department overseeing everything. She said it would be good for him to have something to do every day now that he wasn't Iron Man. And all it was doing was giving him a headache and making him regret giving up his Iron Man persona. At least he would have been in the lab working on his suit, or anything else really. He hadn't even been in the lab since the day he moved Hermione in. In fact, he hadn't even seen Hermione since that day. He'd been too busy, and not even in New York a lot of the time. For some reason everything that Pepper needed him to do just happened to be in the LA branch of the business. He didn't even get a chance to explain to Hermione why he lied to Pepper about who and what she was, or why she moved in. Every time he was in New York, she wasn't in the lab or the country, even. Bruce had told him she was making a lot of trips back to England to visit friends and family and to figure out this evil wizard problem. 

Bruce was another person he barely saw anymore. His nightmares were returning, and he suspected it was because he wasn't talking to Bruce regularly about everything. And he hadn't had a chance to talk to Hermione about what she did to deal with her nightmares. He sighed. Everything was a shit show. He needed to tell Pepper that he was done with the company. He needed to step back again. He needed a break. He needed time to think. He just couldn't go on non-stop like this. He lifted his glass to his lips, taking a deep sip from it, feeling the smoothness of the alcohol as it moved down his throat. 

The elevator opened, and he didn't bother moving, however, he felt the tension in his shoulders loosen. He hadn't seen anyone other than investors, board members and Pepper for months. He needed to see his friends and forget about Tony Stark: Business Man for a while. He heard two sets of footsteps approaching the lounge area.

"Want something to drink?" he heard Bruce ask. 

"Yes, please. I had another cauldron explode on me, it's been a long day," he heard Hermione reply.

"Really? I didn't notice the explosion this time," Bruce answered.

"Well, I'm getting better at reacting fast enough to contain it. And I also had a silencing charm up. I couldn't concentrate with your ramblings."

"I wasn't rambling," Bruce defended. "I was working out my problem, aloud."

"Same difference," Hermione teased. "You need to--" she cut off, stopping in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Bruce asked, coming to a stop next to her.

She gestured toward the couch. 

"Tony!" Bruce shouted, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Tony sat up. "Well, I do own the place."

Bruce shook his head. "You know what I mean. You haven't been around much lately."

"Yeah, I know. And I plan to remedy that fact. If the last couple months have taught me anything, it's that I'm not cut out to be a full time business man any longer. I'll be leaving that up to Pepper. She's much better at it than me. What are you two up to?"

"Drinking our troubles away. It's a Friday night tradition," Bruce explained. 

"Oh, look at you two. I should have known you would hit off. You're both smart introverts, and now you guys have traditions," Tony said, his words coming out more bitter than he had intended. 

"Damn, Tony. I don't know what your problem is, but we haven't seen you for months, and when we finally see you, you bite our heads off? For what? For being friends? For having a tradition? Are you jealous?" Bruce asked. 

Tony scoffed. "Why would I be jealous? You two must spend a lot of time together in the lab during the day, it's only natural that you would hit it off and become friends. Or is it more than that?" He gestured between them with the hand holding the glass of scotch. "Are you two fucking between projects?"

"What the hell, Tony?"Bruce shouted. 

"What?" Tony asked, shrugging his shoulders. "I have the right to know if my lab is being used for illicit liaisons. So, how long have you two been bumping uglies?"

"That's enough," Bruce said. "How much have you had to drink?"

Tony raised the glass in his hand. "This is the first one."

"Oh, so you're just being an asshole," Bruce parried back. 

Tony took a sip of his drink. "Now you're just being mean. Is it because I interrupted your date?"

"For Merlin's Sake," Hermione exclaimed. "And to think I was actually excited to see you sitting in here. I don't know what I could have possibly been thinking."

Tony watched as Hermione turned and stomped out of the room. When he heard the faint ding of the elevator, he closed his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest, and sighed. 

"I hope you're happy," he heard Bruce say behind him. 

"Not, now, Banner," Tony said. 

"No, we're doing this now, because I don't know when I'll see you next. You've been gone from here a lot lately. So want to tell me what that was all about?"

Tony whipped around. "I don't know. Jealousy?"

"Jealousy? Why on earth would you be jealous?" Bruce asked, and then his eyes widened with realization. "Oh my god. You..." he trailed off. "What about Pepper?"

Tony sighed, and walked back over to the couch and flung himself down on it. "I don't know. I literally don't know what I'm thinking or what is going on right now, or what I'm feeling."

Bruce moved around the couch and took a seat in the chair across from it. "Want to talk about it? We haven't had a chance to have any sessions in a while."

"I thought you weren't that kind of doctor?"

"No, but I'm your friend, and I am here for you to talk to. Maybe I can help you make sense of what's going on in that head of yours before you lash out at someone less forgiving."

Tony sighed, leaning his head back on the couch. "I kissed Hermione."

Bruce leaned forward in the chair. "What? When? My impression was that you haven't seen each other since you helped move her in?"

"We haven't. Which should have made these...feelings that have developed since we met dissipate. But it hasn't. I kissed her on Christmas Eve. Or was it Christmas? I don't really know what time it was, so I'm unclear what day it was exactly. But we were talking on the couch. She leaned over and touched my arc reactor, was able to relate to what I was dealing with. And then the next thing I knew, I was kissing her, and I...I don't know."

"Did she return the kiss?"

Tony nodded. "She did, and then I realized what I was doing, remembered Pepper, and then I broke off and told her about Pepper, and she left. For Christmas in England with her friends. And I left to defeat Killian. And then I made promises to Pepper, that I'm no longer sure I want to keep. When I went back to give Hermione my thank you gifts, seeing her again, whatever feelings that were there on Christmas Eve only increased. The next thing I know I'm inviting her to stay here, so I can attempt to protect her and get to know her better. But then I'm not even able to be here. I'm off working, and then I'm finally home, and you and she are all buddy buddy and have rituals and traditions, and...I don't know man. I just. I guess I was hoping to be in on all of that. I had visions of the three of us working in the lab together. Making headway into research together. And I come back and I see the two of you having what I wanted us all to have, and I wasn't involved, it was like a kick in the gut. I'm already unhappy about the direction my life is heading right now, that was just the icing on the cake."

The two men sat in silence for a few minutes, Bruce trying to absorb everything that Tony just word vomited at him. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. 

"That's a lot of stuff to take in all at once, I don't know where to start."

"I know. I know. But it feels good to," Tony gestured at his chest moving his hand between the chest and Bruce. "Just get it all off of my chest. I already feel like a weight has been lifted."

"How much has Hermione told you about her past?" Bruce asked.

"I'm going to guess roughly eighty percent. How much has she told you?"

"Enough to know that you kissing her was probably not the brightest thing to do. She's vulnerable. I'm almost positive that you kissing her was..."

"The first time she's kissed anyone since her husband was murdered?" Tony finished. "Yeah, I'm aware of that. Now. I had no idea when I kissed her. And I'm not sure it would have mattered at the time because nothing seemed to matter. Not even Pepper."

"Yeah, let's talk about that for a minute. Is everything okay between you and Pepper?"

Tony sighed. "I honestly don't know."

"Talk to me Tony." 

Tony stood up from the couch and started pacing the living room. "Ever since the Battle of New York, I just feel like we're growing apart."

"How so?"

"I told you that I've been having those nightmares, and panic attacks, right? Well, Pepper hasn't been the most sensitive about them. She says the right words, but the actions, they make the words seem insincere. And after she was injected with Extremis, and then cured of Extremis, and I rashly declared myself done with being Iron Man, I thought that things would get...better. But it hasn't. I got back here from getting Hermione, and then Pepper started putting me to work, and there was always one problem with the company after the next, and I just, I don't want to do this anymore, I want--"

"To be Iron Man."

"Am I crazy?"

Bruce shook his head. "No, you're not crazy. I think that you experienced a traumatic experience, found someone who could relate to that traumatic experience almost better than anyone else, and you latched onto her. And it doesn't help that the one person who you love more than anyone else has been less than supportive of your problems and your hobby, for lack of a better word, and now you're unhappy. Is that why you lied to Pepper about who Hermione was? And why she was here? Because you have feelings for her?"

"Yeah. Was she pissed? Hermione? We had agreed to no lies, and then I was lying to Pepper two minutes later."

"She was a little upset. She got over it though. Have you told Pepper the truth yet?"

Tony shook his head. "I haven't had a chance. Every time I bring up Hermione, she changes the subject, and then she ships me off to-- Oh shit."

"What?"

"Oh my god. The last few months are starting to make so much sense. She has kept me on the move, constantly away from the Tower ever since she found the three of us in the lab. She changes the subject whenever I bring up Hermione. She moves me around whenever I'm just about ready to come home. She thinks I'm having an affair with Hermione. She thinks I moved a mistress into the Tower. That's why she has been keeping me away."

Bruce blew out a gush of air. "It does make sense. She did not look happy when she came into the lab that day. Maybe you should explain to her that you didn't move Hermione in to have an affair with her. Unless..." he trailed off.

"Unless what?" Tony asked.

"Unless you were."

"What are you saying?"

"What if on some subconscious level, you moved her in so you could pursue a relationship with her?"

Tony groaned and moved back to the couch to flop back onto it. "When I told her that I gave up being Iron Man, you know what she said? She told me that I wouldn't be able to just give it up, because being Iron Man is part of my identity and I can't just give up part of my identity. And then she told me about her husband being murdered and I realized that you don't have to be an Avenger to have your loved ones be in danger. And when she told me she was in danger still from that Dark Wizard? I didn't even hesitate to move her here so I could keep her safe."

"Was it just to keep her safe?"

"I don't know. I really don't. I need to talk to her. Apologize. And then I need to talk to Pepper and tell her I'm not going to keep working for the company the way I have been. And that I'm going to go back to being Iron Man. That's going to go over real well, I'm sure."

Bruce sighed. "You're right, man. You need to talk to both of them. But most definitely Pepper. You owe it to her to be honest. Tell her about the nightmares and how much they affect you. Tell her about Hermione. The truth. She needs to know the truth so that she can understand why you feel connected with her. Tell her that you are going to keep being Iron Man, because Hermione was right. You can't just give up being Iron Man, and I'm not saying that as your team mate, I'm telling you that as your doctor. Iron Man is a part of you, and you can't just give up a part of you."

"And what do I tell her about my feelings?"

"Do you love her?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation. 

"Are you going to want to pursue anything more than friendship with Hermione?"

Tony froze. He didn't know what to say, and that worried him.

"Yeah, your reaction when you saw the two of us together earlier spoke just as loudly as that look on your face. Talk to Pepper. But first go upstairs and apologize to Hermione. You owe her one after the way you acted tonight."

"You're right," Tony said. "I'll go do that now," he said, standing up from the couch. "Hey Bruce?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I ruined your Friday night tradition."

"It's no big deal. It was nice to be able to catch up with you. I've missed our sessions."

"Yeah, me too. I'm glad you're not that kind of doctor," he said, giving Bruce a smile and a quick wink. 

Tony stalked over to the elevator and pushed the button. He stepped into the elevator and pushed the button to Hermione's floor. The trip up was quicker than he wanted it to be, because when the doors opened to her floor, he was no closer to knowing what he was going to say to her. He stepped out of the elevator, and into Hermione's living room. 

"Hello?" he heard her call out from the back of the apartment. 

"Um, hey, it's me," he answered. 

Hermione came walking around the corner, tying the sash of her robe around her waist. "Tony," she said. "I'm surprised to see you here," she greeted, her voice cold.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry for the way I reacted tonight."

Hermione sighed, folding her arms across her chest. "What was that all about?"

"I was jealous."

"There's nothing going on between Bruce and I. I want you to know that. We're just friends."

"I know that. And that's what I was jealous of. When I moved you in here, I wanted to be part of that."

"But then you just disappeared. Leaving me here alone."

"Not alone. Bruce was here."

"Not the same. What happened, Tony? Why did you lie to Pepper? Why did you just disappear?"

Tony sighed. "I didn't disappear. Pepper's been keeping me busy with the company ever since she found you in the lab. I'm pretty sure she's keeping me busy and away from the Tower because she's jealous of you."

Hermione looked confused. "Why would she be jealous of me?"

"Because she thinks I moved you into the Tower to have an affair with you. At least I think that's the reason. I haven't had a chance to confront her with it yet. But I'm almost certain."

Hermione laughed. "That's crazy. I mean, why would you want to have an affair with me? Especially when you're already with someone as beautiful as her?"

Tony started to laugh, but then he looked at Hermione, and realized that she was serious. 

"Don't do that. Don't put yourself down by comparing yourself to someone else. You are absolutely beautiful. The way your face looks when you laugh is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. And not only that, you're probably the most caring person I've ever met. You. Are. Amazing."

"Tony," Hermione whispered, her voice breaking. 

Tony shook his head, and crossed the room, closing the gap between them, wrapping his arms around her, bringing her close to his body, joining them at the lips. The kiss didn't get very far, because just as quickly as it started, Hermione was pushing him away. 

"Tony, I won't be your mistress," she said, her voice filling with emotion.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm going to go talk to Pepper. Wait for me here. I'll be back."

Tony placed his hands on either side of her face, drawing her closer, placing a chaste kiss on her lips, before turning and walking to the door. While he was waiting for the elevator, he turned around and gave Hermione a smirk, before walking into the elevator to confront his girlfriend and tell her what was going on.


	11. Chapter 10

Tony almost fell asleep while waiting for Pepper to get back from whatever it was she was doing with the company. His eyes had just started drooping when the door to their bedroom opened and Pepper walked in. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "Did I wake you?"

Tony sat up in the bed. "No, no, I was waiting up for you."

Pepper smiled as she took her shoes off. "That's really sweet of you, Tony, but you didn't need to do that."

"Well, I needed to talk to you."

Pepper frowned. "We're going to be on the plane to LA tomorrow. You could have just talked to me then."

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Tony said, standing up from the bed. "I'm not going to LA with you tomorrow."

Pepper stopped what she was doing. "What do you mean? Of course you're going with me. It's a meeting with the board. They're expecting you."

"I'm not going, and I'm planning on scaling back my role at Stark Industries back to what it once was. I named you CEO for a reason. I don't want any part of it. I'm done. I can't do this anymore."

Pepper shook her head. "If you're not going to be working to run the company, what are you going to be doing with your time?"

"I'm going to work with Bruce and Hermione in the lab, what I had originally intended to do until you started shuttling me to meeting after meeting. Which, by the way, what's the deal with that, Pepper? You've been running me ragged the last few months. Why?"

Pepper sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Why do you think, Tony?"

"I have my suspicions, but I want to hear it from you," Tony said trying to keep his emotions in check.

"You went to give the woman you lived with for two days compensation, and you ended up bringing her home. What was I supposed to think, Tony?" Pepper hissed at him.

"That I'm a wonderful man with a hero complex that can't help but save a damsel in distress?"

"Oh, please," Pepper said. "What was she in distress from? Because your ex-boyfriend story was not even a little bit believable."

"She's a witch," Tony said. "She's an honest to god witch. Who fought in a war in her world when she was a teenager. Some Dark Wizard cursed her when she was fifteen and has tormented her ever since. He murdered her husband in front of her, so she moved to Tennessee to hide. She used her magic to save my life from a woman who exploded on Extremis, and that exposed her to that Dark Wizard, so I asked her to move here. I figured between her magical wards and our security, she would be safe here. That's why I brought her here. Why did you think I brought her here?"

"To continue the affair you started with her when you stayed with her over Christmas," Pepper said. "Her husband was murdered in front of her?" 

Tony nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty horrific. And it got me thinking that no matter what, people are in danger. Whether they're super heroes or not."

Pepper's eyes widened. "No, Tony," she said, her tone reeking with finality.

"What? What do you have against me being Iron Man?"

"Um, have you already forgotten about Christmas, Tony? About Killian kidnapping me because of my connection to you? How he injected me with Extremis? Pretty sure those examples should be enough for you to know why I don't want you to be Iron Man."

"I can't just quit being Iron Man!" Tony shouted.

"Yes, you can!" Pepper shouted right back. "You already have. You destroyed the suits! You had surgery to remove the arc reactor. We agreed that you wouldn't be Iron Man anymore."

Tony shook his head. "No, you agreed, I went along with it because I love you. The thought of you getting hurt again terrifies me, so I agreed to just erase this huge part of my personality for you. But I can't do that. I can't just quit being Iron Man, because it's part of who I am."

"Part of who you are? Part of your personality? Have you been talking to Bruce?"

"Of course," Tony said. "He's my friend, and I needed someone to work through everything that I'm feeling right now. And he helped me come to this conclusion."

Pepper shook her head. "I can't believe that you would go to Bruce before you would come to me."

"I'm not going to apologize for that. Bruce has been helping me work through a lot of things the last few months in regards to my PTSD, and it's been helping. It's only natural that I would go to him to work out other aspects of my life."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Your PTSD? That's stretching it a bit, don't you think?"

Tony reached over to his bedside table and threw the book that was sitting there across the room. "See, this is something else I wanted to talk to you about. You've been so dismissive of my problems after I died during the Battle of New York. I don't know why you're being so insensitive, but--"

"But what?"

"But maybe that's part of the reason why I've been drawn to Hermione."

"Oh my god, you are sleeping with her! I knew it!" Pepper yelled, tears filling her eyes.

"I'm not sleeping with her," Tony said. "I'm swear to you I'm not. But, I can't help but be attracted to her, drawn to her, because she understands what I'm going through, and she's sympathetic to my feelings. When I was sleeping on her couch, I had one of my nightmares and she didn't just get angry at me for disturbing her sleep, and leave me alone with my feelings. She sat with me and talked me through everything. That's what I need from you, Pepper. Can you give that to me?"

Silence stretched between them. Tony watched as Pepper internally debated with what she was going to say next. 

"Are you still going to rebuild your suit and be Iron Man?" Pepper asked quietly.

"Yes, because I can't think of any other way to live my life fully," Tony answered just as quietly.

"Then, I don't know if I can be what you want me to be, since you can't even try to be what I want you to be. You love being Iron Man more than you love me," Pepper said, crying.

Tony shook his head. "That's not true."

Pepper nodded, wiping her eyes with her hands. "Yes, it is. And I think," she paused taking a deep breath. "I think that we need to take a break from us. I can't do this, Tony. I can't. I'll continue running Stark Industries if you want, but I can't be in a relationship with you. Not right now."

Tony nodded his head. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He came up here to see if he could fix whatever divide that had formed between him and Pepper. And then he would go down and explain to Hermione that the kisses they shared were a mistake, that he was with Pepper, and he would need to try and control his urges around her until his weird attraction to her subsided. What he wasn't expecting was for Pepper to break up with him. And over his need to be Iron Man at that. 

"I'll send someone to come pack up my things tomorrow. I'll see you around, Tony," Pepper said, through her tears. She scooped down to pick up her shoes and turned to leave the bedroom. Tony could hear the faint ding of the elevator as the one person he loved more than anyone else, walked out of his life forever.

 

 

Hermione woke as the sun was peeking in through her window. She rolled over and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, the previous night coming back to her. She blushed as she remembered the night before. She had been so mad at Tony for the way he treated her and Bruce when they came into the lounge for their Friday night drinks and movie night. Of course, he quickly changed those feelings when he came to apologize. And kiss her. She frowned. But he was still with Pepper, and she was not going to be with a man who was already in a serious relationship.

She rubbed her face. Why was this so hard? Dating. With Ron it was so easy. They were friends, and then after years of close friendship, they just moved to romance to marriage. She was supposed to be with him until they grew old. They were supposed to raise their kids with Harry and Ginny's. Hermione sat up in bed, wiping the tears that had formed in her eyes furiously. Why did it still hurt so badly? It had been six years and it still hurt as if it were yesterday. And if this thing with Tony moved forward? How would that work? She had only ever slept with one man. What if she messed that up? And what if this thing with Tony didn't go anywhere? If he decided to stay with Pepper? She would be heartbroken. She flopped back on the bed. She wasn't ready for this. She would just be the mourning widow for the rest of her life. That was the only way to do it. Maybe Tony would let her get a cat. Unless Thor was allergic to cats. Could Norse gods be allergic to pet dander? She shook her head. When she saw Tony today, she would tell him that she just wasn't cut out for dating. 

She stood up from the bed and padded to the bathroom to get ready for the day, when she heard the elevator to her apartment ding, signaling the arrival of someone. She stopped, and looked in the direction of the elevator, confused. Usually Bruce would come meet her on the way down to the lab, but on Saturdays they wouldn't meet up until later. So that meant it was only one other person. Tony. She quickly grabbed a hair tie from the vanity and threw her hair up in a messy pony tail before grabbing her robe and putting it on and walking to the living room to greet him, stopping short when she saw that it wasn't Tony at all. It was Pepper.

"Oh," Hermione said, surprise evident in her voice. "Hi."

"Hi," Pepper said. 

Hermione looked at the woman in front of her, the competition, what have you, and it looked like she hadn't slept all night. There were dark circles under her eyes, which were red and puffy. Her hair was in a messy pony tail and she was wearing sweats. She was definitely not the poised woman she met in the lab a few months ago. Hermione had to hold in the gasp that threatened to escape. She was pretty sure, based on the other woman's appearance that she and Tony were no longer together. 

"Can I help you?" she asked, hesitantly, unsure of what Pepper was even doing here. Did Tony tell her about the two of them? Was she the reason they broke up? It almost seemed like it. Tony had told her last night he was going to go up and talk to Pepper after he had kissed her and she had said she wouldn't be the other woman.

"I wanted to let you know that Tony and I broke up last night," Pepper said. "You won."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know what you mean. I haven't seen Tony in months. The last time the two of you were together in the lab."

"Well, in the time the two of you have spent together, you were pretty damn supportive of his Iron Man endeavors. And last night he decided he's done working for the company side by side with me, and he's going to continue his suicide mission of being Iron Man. Because you and Bruce told him that it's part of him and he can't give that up. Not even for me. So, congratulations. You won."

Hermione sighed, partly in relief, partly in sympathy with the woman in front of her. "I never meant for your relationship to end, Pepper, and I'm sure Bruce didn't mean for it either. We were only trying to help him work through his PTSD. You have to know that we only had his best interests in mind, I hope that much was evident."

Pepper scoffed. "PTSD. You guys aren't psychologists, and yet you're diagnosing Tony with these ailments, and he's buying it."

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. "How can you be so callous about the problems that the man you claim to love faces? Of course he has PTSD. He was attacked and held captive in the Middle East. He battled aliens in New York and died. Of course he's going to have PTSD and panic attacks and nightmares. You should try to be a bit more sensitive to that. When he was sleeping on my couch, you know what he told me? That I was the first person to be sympathetic to his nightmares. And that made me sad. Especially when he told me that he lived with his girlfriend."

Pepper shook her head. "Again, not a doctor."

"I don't need to be a doctor to know what he's going through, because I went through the same damn thing after I was nearly tortured to death when I was seventeen. I'm pretty much an expert on PTSD and anxiety attacks and nightmares. But why don't you tell me again that I don't know what I'm talking about. Should I go through more examples? How about when my husband was murdered in front of me and I lost my unborn baby? That was pretty horrific, gave me a few nightmares. Or how about the fact that I'm constantly looking over my shoulder for the mad man who's still hell bent on murdering me? I'm sure if I was brought up in whatever conversation you had with Tony he told you about what I am, and what I've gone through in order to speak with some authority about what he's experiencing and give him advice. Bruce, too, I might add. I'm sure he can tell you lots of stories about why he's able to help Tony deal with whatever guilt or anxiety he is experiencing."

Pepper, for her part, looked well and truly shamed. She ducked her head, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

"What have you done to help Tony through all of this? Other than dismiss his nightmares and panic attacks and convince him that he should just give up being the one thing that has helped him cope with being held hostage?"

"That's not fair," Pepper shouted, bringing her gaze but to meet Hermione's. "I love him, more than anything, and I've been with him from the beginning. I was kidnapped, you know. Did he tell you that? I was kidnapped and injected with this serum that threatened to burn me from the inside out. And it was terrifying. And after it was all over, and Tony was able to remove it from my body, we agreed that living a life free from the Avengers and evil villains was the right way to go. And everything was fine, until he went and found you and brought you back here!" Pepper practically yelled, her voice filling with emotions, and tears that were threatening to fall. "Are you two sleeping together? Is that what this is all about?"

Hermione shook her head, and was pleased she was able to answer honestly. "No, we're not sleeping together."

"Then why come here? Tony is practically a stranger, and you jumped at the chance to move here with him. That's so strange."

"I don't know," Hermione answered, shrugging. "Tony has a way to convince you that something is your idea, when it's really something that he wants. Which I'm sure you already know, very well."

Pepper laughed and nodded knowingly to that.

"And I don't know," Hermione continued. "I was scared, and Tony made me feel safe. He really talked up the security of this building, and that made me feel so much better about everything. I really had nowhere else to go except home to England to live in places where my husband and I lived and go places we went, and just constantly be surrounded with memories that would not be conducive to me living my life normally. And Tony gave me a way out of that. To try to keep moving forward."

Pepper looked at her, her head tilted to the side. "How old are you, Hermione?"

"Thirty-Three."

"You weren't even thirty before you lost your husband. So much loss for someone so young,” Pepper said, quietly. "And yet, when I first saw you, I had no idea. All I saw was the beautiful woman who my boyfriend lived with, and couldn't help but think that you were trying to seduce him away from me."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm not that kind of person. I would never knowingly do that."

Pepper hung her head, putting her hands on her face. "I'm a terrible person," she said into her hands.

Hermione sighed. "You're not a horrible person."

"I broke up with him," she said. "When he said he wanted to be Iron Man still, I broke up with him."

Hermione shrugged. "It's not too late, if you want to go up and apologize, and fix it, I'm sure he'll take you back."

Pepper shook her head, "No. I don't. Apologizing and telling him that I was wrong to misjudge his relationship with you and that I was a total bitch about his nightmares and anxiety attacks won't change the fundamental thing that's wrong with our relationship, and that's that he will always choose Iron Man over me. It's just the way it is. He'll always be tinkering away at those damn suits and flying off to put his life in danger, and I'll always be here. Worried about what is going to happen to him. Or worried that the next crazy guy will come and kidnap me or worse. No, I can't do that. I made the right choice. I can't go back up there," she explained. "I will apologize to you, since I did barge in here and start yelling at you, blaming you for all of my problems."

Hermione shook her head. "Apology accepted."

Pepper gave her a small smile. "Take care of him, for me? You and Bruce? Make sure he doesn't get himself killed?"

Hermione returned her smile. "We'll try. Not sure we have too much control over him."

"Fair enough," Pepper said. "I did say try."

"We'll try our hardest."

The two women stood in silence for a minute, taking each other in. Hermione felt guilty for not being completely honest about the kisses she had shared with Tony over the course of their acquaintance, but she knew it would do more damage than good at this point. Although she felt a huge relief that whatever there was between she and Tony, it wasn't the cause of his break up from his longtime girlfriend. She didn't break them up. She wasn't a home wrecker. Well, technically she was, since she told Tony that he needed to continue to be Iron Man, but that meant Bruce was equally as guilty and that let her off the hook. 

Pepper took a deep breath. "Well, I need to be heading out, I have a plane to catch. Again, I'm sorry."

Pepper didn't wait for a response before she turned and headed toward the elevator. Hermione watched as the doors closed in front of her and breathed a sigh of relief. What a strange and stressful way to start a morning. She looked at the clock and it was nearing the time she and Bruce usually met down in the lab to work on Saturdays. And then Hermione smiled to herself. If Tony and Pepper were broken up that meant Tony was more than likely to be in the lab today, too. It was that thought that had her moving through the rest of her morning routine with a spring in her step and a smile on her face.


	12. Chapter 11

Tony entered the lab later than he had intended. After he and Pepper broke up, he stayed up even later drinking and contemplating his next move. Even with all the attraction he had to Hermione, breaking up with Pepper still hurt like a mother. There was no way he could just jump from this long term relationship into whatever it was he had with Hermione. He wondered if the attraction he had to Hermione was superficial enough that if he just fucked her once it would be out of his system and he could move on and try to fix things with Pepper. But the idea of using Hermione in a one night stand capacity made him feel disgusted, and he knew deep down that the demise of his relationship with Pepper was more than just his attraction to Hermione. His desire to be Iron Man played a huge role in that. He finally passed out sometime near dawn, and woke up around noon in a panic. 

He walked through the lab, wondering if Bruce and Hermione would even be there. It was Saturday after all. He was about to give up, when he saw Hermione hunched over a piece of paper in the back lab. 

“Hey,” he said, announcing his presence. 

Hermione looked up, and gave him a tentative smile. “Hey.”

“I wasn’t sure you would be in here since it’s Saturday. I realized that maybe you wouldn’t work on weekends.”

“Oh, I’m here every day. This is probably my favorite place to be. Thank you so much for letting me work in here.”

Tony shook his head, “No thanks needed. Apparently if you and Bruce didn’t use it, this place would just go to waste.”

Hermione looked down at her paper, and Tony cocked his head. Something was bothering her. Did she regret last night? Did he fuck everything up and now that he was finally going to be able to be working side by side with her, she didn’t want to be in the same room? “What’s wrong?”

“Pepper came and saw me this morning,” she said looking up and meeting his gaze. 

Tony winced. That was not what he was expecting. At all. “Oh,” he said, at a loss for words. “What did she have to say?”

“That the two of you broke up. She blamed me so she came and confronted me about it.”

Tony shook his head. “What? Why on Earth would she blame you? Our, moments let’s call them, never even came up. She never gave me the chance.”

“Oh, that’s not why she blamed me. She blamed Bruce and I equally for encouraging you to pick up the mantle of Iron Man again.”

Tony rubbed his eyes, and groaned. “Of course. Fucking Iron Man. You know this persona has been more trouble than it’s worth most of the time.”

“And you love every second of it,” Hermione chimed in.

“Every fucking second of it,” Tony agreed, a grin spreading over his face.

They laughed. 

“Pepper,” Tony said, once they composed themselves. “She, uh, she wasn’t mean to you was she?”

Hermione shook her head. “I’ve encountered meaner.”

Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m so sorry Hermione. I move you in here and disappear for months. I finally come back, and all of this shit happens. I was supposed to be making your life easier, instead I filled it with unnecessary drama.”

Hermione shrugged. “I don’t mind it, actually.”

Tony looked at her quizzically. “Really?”

“Yeah, I mean I was living alone, with very few social interactions for six years. Moving in here, it’s fun. I mean, at first I was a bit upset that you weren’t around since you were the only person I knew, but Bruce really went out of his way to make sure I felt at home.”

“So, uh, are you and Bruce, uh, together?”

“I wouldn’t have kissed you last night if we were.”

“Well, I was with Pepper last night, and that didn’t stop me either time, did it?”

Silence spread between them like a cancer. Tony knew he made a mistake pointing that out. He wondered if bringing the previous night up in general was a mistake. They really hadn’t had a chance to talk about it themselves, and then Pepper broke up with him, and then she confronted Hermione. This whole thing was one big clusterfuck. 

“So, last night,” Tony hedged.

“Yeah, maybe,” Hermione said, looking down at her feet. “Maybe it’s best that whatever there is between us, we cool it off for a bit, yeah?”

Tony breathed a little sigh of relief. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I mean, I like you, and I’m attracted to you, but,”

“But?”

“But I don’t want to be your rebound. I haven’t been with anyone since Ron, and I just, I don’t know.”

“You don’t want to be hurt again,” Tony finished.

“Yeah,” Hermione said, looking up at him. “Not that I think you’re going to hurt me, but…”

“I just came out of a two year serious relationship, and I’m going to need some time to get over it.”

“Yeah.”

Silence spread between them again. 

“This is awkward,” Tony quipped, trying to lighten the mood. 

Hermione laughed. “Just a tad.”

Tony gave her a smile and gestured at the lab. “Want to fill me in on what you’ve been working on in here?”

“Think you will understand anything I tell you?” Hermione challenged. 

Tony leaned his elbow on the counter next to him. “Well, I’ve been told I’m a genius, multiple times. Try me.”

 

 

“You are currently brewing five different potions?” Tony asked as Hermione took him through the back part of the lab, showing all the cauldrons in different levels of brewing.

“Yes,” she said. “These are my best sellers. I’ve found myself selling a lot of healing potions to the local hospital, along with a few beauty potions. My top seller is the contraceptive potion, however. I get a lot of owl orders from teenage girls who are too embarrassed to see a healer to get it themselves.”

“Contraceptive potion? How effective is that say compared to what non-magical people use?” Tony asked.

“One Hundred Percent,” Hermione answered.

“Hmmm. Are the ingredients magical, or is there a way to transfer that into a product that non-magical people can use?”

She looked over at Tony. He was looking at her, eagerly. He looked like he was itching for a new project, and this could be it. And if they worked on this, it would be an excuse for them to work closely together, but in a non-romantic way.

“Um,” she answered. “They’re mostly magical, but maybe we can come up with something that involves Muggle ingredients. It would take a lot of research and trial and error though.”

“Research and trial and error are my specialty,” Tony said, jumping on the chance to work with her. 

Hermione smiled. “Alright, so, I guess I’ll get you a couple potions books so you can start doing that part of the research so we can start on the same page moving forward.”

She moved to the shelf in the lab she had claimed as her own, placing her textbooks and research journals on it for easy reference in case she got an order for a potion that she couldn’t brew from memory. She picked her first year potions book off the shelf along with a few books on magical ingredients and their properties handing them to Tony, who let out a low whistle. 

“Geez, Glinda, don’t you think this is a bit much?”

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. “First of all, Glinda? Really? I was hoping that all of these months away put that unfortunate nickname out of your memory, and second of all, no, I don’t. If you want to come up with a Muggle alternative to the contraceptive potion, then you need to first understand potions and magical ingredients. I have the advantage of seven years of school and seven additional years of research. And since this was your idea, I’m not going to pull the brunt of the research. You need to be up to snuff, so to speak. So, start with these, and then I’ll give you the more advanced potions books. When you and I are on the same page, we will begin our research.”

Tony looked back down at the books in his pile and back up to the woman standing in front of him, looking up at him expectantly. He flashed her a grin, his heart picking up speed. He should be heart broken, barely able to function. His first completely serious adult relationship had imploded not twenty four hours before, and yet, here he was, in his lab with another woman, ready to jump into a new project. He knew that they would be able to figure out the formula and be able to produce a, what did she call them, Muggle, alternative to the contraceptive potion. If they could come up with a birth control that was one hundred percent effective every time, it would be revolutionary. They would be able to sell the distribution to the right pharmaceutical company, and they would be rich. Well, he would be richer, but Hermione would be rich, and then she wouldn’t have to worry about where she would live for the rest of her life. Not that he wanted her to move out. Quite the contrary. He gave her a discreet once over. Yeah, there was no way he was letting her move out of the Tower. He would continue to work closely with her, get to know her, get her comfortable with him, and then, when the moment was right, when it had been long enough for her to not be considered a rebound from Pepper, he would make his move. Because he would be an idiot to let her go.

“That sounds like a great plan, I guess I’ll just, go start reading this mountain of tomes,” he said, giving Hermione a lopsided grin, gesturing at the couch that was in the lab.

“If you have any questions about anything, I’ll be here,” she said, returning his smile.

“And I’m glad of it. Because I’m guessing I’ll have a lot of questions, since my knowledge of magic is limited to what you’ve told me.”

Hermione lit up, and Tony could almost see the light bulb flash above her head. She practically ran to the shelf and grabbed an extremely large book off the shelf, bringing it over to him, placing it on top of his pile. 

“Jesus Christ, Hermione,” Tony exclaimed, struggling a little under the weight of all the books she had given him. “What the fuck is this? Everything there is to know about magic?”

Hermione smiled, giggling at him. “Basically. It’s the most recent edition of ‘The History of Magic.’ When I found out I was a witch, this was the first book I read. I’ve read every edition, cover to cover, ever since. It is my favorite book. Read this one first. It’ll give you an over view of everything that you need to know.”

Tony nodded. “Alright. The fattest book first, and then on to potions, got it. I’ll just be over here.” 

Tony moved over to the couch, and set the pile of books on the floor. He made himself comfortable, and then grabbed History of Magic off the top of the pile. He opened to the first page, and glanced up at Hermione. She had moved over to her cauldrons, and had tied her hair up into a tight bun on the top of her head. He admired the view of her working hard over the potions and smiled at himself before he looked back down at the book in his lap. 

Yeah, he thought to himself. He had definitely made the right choice. This was a million times better than any board meeting he would have been forced to sit in on. 

 

Bruce came into the lab a few hours later, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and was taken aback at the sight in front of him. Tony was lounging on the couch, reading a thick, ancient book, and Hermione was at her normal position over the potions. He smiled. This was the way it was supposed to be. He had to admit, he was just as upset about Tony being brought back into Stark Industries. When his Malibu home was destroyed, Bruce was actually looking forward to Tony being in New York full time. It was lonely in the Tower. He knew Tony and Pepper had revamped it for the Avengers to all move in together, but he was the only one who lived in the tower full time right now. Steve and Natasha were in Washington, D.C. working for S.H.I.E.L.D. full time, Thor was in Asgard, Rhodey was also in D.C. doing whatever it was he did for the government, and who the hell knew where Clint was. He was the only Avenger that didn’t have somewhere else to live. And it was fucking lonely. And then Tony’s California home was destroyed, and for a few weeks, he was in New York full time, and it was nice, it was less lonely. When he moved Hermione in, it made things even better. Then Tony disappeared, leaving him alone with Hermione.

Not that he was saying it was a bad thing. He liked Hermione. They clicked almost immediately once they got to know each other. It was an awkward couple days at first because Tony left before he could really help get Hermione settled in, which left everything up to Bruce. He had to get her her key card. He had to show her how to use all of the technology in the lab because apparently tech and magic typically didn’t interact well with one another and she had literally no idea how to use anything in the building, save the television in the lounge, even though she had been living mostly magic free for six years. Her home still had magic in it so she just steered clear of most technology. He helped her clean out the back lab of all the high tech instruments so she would have a place to brew her potions and do whatever else it was she was doing, that way the computers and J.A.R.V.I.S. wouldn’t fry from her magic. Once he got her settled and set up, they worked for a bit before they started to talk and get to know one another. They related on a deep level with the loneliness. They spent many late nights talking about their lives. He told her about the other guy. She told him about the war. Before long they were helping each other out on research and projects and spending a lot of time in the lounge watching movies and drinking. It was the happiest he had been in a long time. 

He could feel in the back of his mind the attraction starting form, but he shoved it away. He didn’t want that, not with the other guy being around. And not until he knew what Tony felt about her. He knew logically that Tony was with Pepper. That they were very serious, and Tony loved her, but, in the weeks following his brief exile to Tennessee, Tony always talked about the woman who housed him, with a certain look in his eyes, and Bruce knew better than to dismiss that away. After Tony’s reaction last night, he knew he had done the right thing. He knew that there was something between Hermione and Tony, even if they didn’t realize it yet. Now, looking at the two of them in the lab, he smiled. He felt bad that he was so happy that Tony was back in the lab where he belonged. That meant that something went down with Pepper last night, and that couldn’t be good. But, he now had two friends with him full time, and that was something he hadn’t had in a very, very long time. And he couldn’t help but look forward to whatever was going to happen next.


	13. Chapter 12

Hermione was in the lab listening to something on the Wizarding Wireless on her ear buds. The music wasn’t great, but it was the only tech she trusted to be around while she was working with her potions. She had just received a really large order of healing potions from the hospital, larger than she had received since advertising her business with them a few months ago. That meant they were pleased with what they were receiving, and were starting to move most of their business over to her. Which was great, in theory; however, she was only one person, and there was no way she was going to be able to keep up with the brewing and maintain the timetable she promised them in the initial contract. If they were going to keep increasing their order, she would have to renegotiate the contract and buy herself some more time. She would also need to cut back on some of her other potions. She would have to just stick with her regulars and start turning people away, which she hated to do, but, again, she was only one person. Maybe if she started training someone else? She was in New York, now, heart of the wizarding community in America. She would be able to find an adequate witch or wizard to train and pass off maybe the cosmetic potions to. She made a note on a piece of parchment on her table to start researching that. In the week since Tony had returned, she had been kept so busy that she hadn’t had time to think about anything that had been going between them. Which was good. Because just being in the same room with him flustered her for the most part. 

They would come down into the lab every morning, and Bruce would work in his lab on whatever he was working on, which Hermione suspected was some kind of cure to keep him from Hulking out, she would go work on her potions, and Tony sat on the couch, still reading History of Magic, stopping to put notes in his personal computer, at least that’s what she thought it was. It was attached to his wrist. And no matter how many times she warned him that technology like that and magic did not typically play well together, he stayed on that couch in her lab, reading and taking notes. 

She looked over at the couch and frowned, looking back up at the clock. He was later than he normally was. Usually he was down here before she was, causing her to wonder if he even slept. She took out her ear buds and walked into the front lab where Bruce was working. 

“Good morning,” he said, not looking up from what he was doing. 

“Good morning,” she replied. “Have you seen Tony?”

Bruce looked up. “He’s not on your couch? Because I’m pretty sure that’s where he spends his nights.”

She shook her head. “No, he’s not. That’s why I’m asking you. It’s odd. Do you think…” she trailed off.

Bruce shook his head. “She hasn’t even been back in the tower since they broke up. She’s been maintaining the business from the California office. Maybe he actually went upstairs and got some sleep and is sleeping in. Which good thing, Hermione. He’s back to not sleeping.”

Hermione nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’ll be glad if that’s what he did. He needs it. Do you think he’s having nightmares again?”

Bruce shrugged. “Probably. I’m not convinced they ever stopped. He hasn’t talked to me since that first night back though, so I’m not positive.”

“If he’s not talking to anyone, I’m guessing he probably is.”

Bruce opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off from the elevator doors opening, and Tony storming into the lab. He didn’t stop until he was right in front of Hermione. He put his hands on either side of her face, tilting her head so that she was looking up into his chocolate eyes. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

Hermione’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “What are you talking about? Tell you what?”

“Your torture. The Cruciatus Curse. You didn’t tell me about the Longbottoms.”

Hermione felt her brain finally catching up to where Tony was. “Oh, Tony. You’ve made a lot of progress in that book.”

Tony shook his head. “I stayed all night finishing it. Once I hit the first reign of Voldemort, I couldn’t stop reading. Please don’t distract me. Your mind, it’s okay?”

Hermione nodded. “It’s fine. She didn’t keep me under it as long as she did the Longbottoms. She took a lot more pleasure in carving me up than casting a spell on me.”

Tony shook his head. “Can I see it.”

Hermione closed her eyes and nodded. Tony removed his hands from her face and she reached down, pulling up the sleeve on her shirt. She always wore long sleeves since it was easier than maintaining a glamour charm, and easier than answering all the questions that came along with a scar like that. She opened her eyes and kept her gaze on Tony’s face as he gently gripped her arm, bringing it up to his face to look get a closer look. She watched his eyes widen as he caught sight of it for the first time. She heard Bruce gasp from beside her. She hadn’t even realized that he had even approached her. He knew about her time in the war, but like Tony, she kept things pretty vague. She should have realized when giving Tony that book that he would read about the war and her part in it. And the book went into a lot more detail than she did. 

Tony’s gaze never left her arm, as he brought his other hand up and traced the scars on her arm. The scars that both reminded her of her strength to survive such an act and also reminded her of the evil in the world and how she will always be other. She watched Tony as he fought to keep his emotions in check. She could see the anger starting to brew in his eyes. It was the same look that Ron had in his eyes after it had happened. The one he had for the whole time they were at Shell Cottage while she recovered. The look of wanting to avenge her and take out their anger on the person who dared do this to her. 

“She dead, you know,” Hermione whispered. “She was killed in the final battle. There is nothing you can do now.”

“Yes there is,” Tony said, not taking his eyes off her arm. “I can catch the son of a bitch who is stalking you. Dolohov. I can take him out so that he can never hurt you again.”

She shook her head. “It’s impossible. He’s impossible to find. And even if you could find him, he is a wizard. You’re a muggle. It’s a death wish.”

Tony shook his head. “I’m fucking Iron Man. I’ve taken down so many things a regular Muggle would never survive. I think I can handle one wizard.”

“But you’re not Iron Man,” Hermione said. “Not anymore. You destroyed all of your suits.”

Tony let go of her arm and stalked into the empty lab. Bruce and Hermione exchanged a look before turning to follow him in. He had stalked over to the desk and was typing something into the computer. 

“J.A.R.V.I.S.” he said, into the empty room. 

“Yes, sir,” a disembodied voice that sounded vaguely British answered. 

Hermione was taken aback. She was not expecting that. He always talked about J.A.R.V.I.S, but she had assumed it was just what he named his computer. Not that it was an actual A.I.

“Please show my friends what I have been working on for the last week.”

Hermione jumped when she heard a whoosh from the back of the lab as the floor opened up and a glass pod came up out of the ground. Her eyes opened wide when she noticed what was inside of it. “What the hell, Tony?”

“Guys, meet the Mark forty-three,” Tony said, gesturing at the mostly complete suit behind him. “It’s not quite finished yet, but it’s getting close, just a few more nights of work and it’ll be fully functioning.”

Hermione stared at him, concern evident in her eyes. All this time she thought he was staying up late reading, or sleeping on the couch. She was so wrong.

“Tony, man, have you been sleeping?” Bruce asked, voicing the very concerns that she herself had.

Tony brushed off his concerns with a wave of his hands. “I don’t need sleep.”

“Yes, you do,” Hermione said. “You absolutely do. Have you still been having nightmares?”

Tony looked up at her and quickly looked away. It was all the answer she needed.

“Tony, if you need to talk, you know we’re here for you,” she said.

“I don’t need to talk,” Tony said. “I’m fine. I rebuilt my suit, which is what I said I would do. You already knew that I was going back to being Iron Man. I don’t know why you’re surprised!”

“Because you rebuilt it in a week!” Bruce shouted. “Tony, this isn’t healthy! You need sleep.”

Tony turned to face Hermione. “Glinda, you’re on my side, right?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Tony, but I need to agree with Bruce on this. You need sleep. I’m so happy that you have your suit back, but not at the cost.”

Tony rubbed his face with his hands. “You guys don’t understand.”

“Try us,” Hermione said gently. 

Tony stood in there, contemplating what he was going to say. “My penthouse is so…empty,” he finally said.

Hermione closed her eyes. Of course. “Oh Tony.”

“I’m so used to someone being there. Being around someone all the time. That going up there, and being alone with my thoughts. Just being alone. I couldn’t stand it. After that first night I started staying down here. And then I started working. I had so much to catch up on. While parts of my suit configured, I would read. Anything to keep me from remembering how alone I am.”

“But you’re not alone,” Bruce said. “We’re here.”

“Yeah, during the day. But at night? I’m alone. And let me tell you, that feeling sucks.”

“You don’t need to tell us that, Tony. We both have lots of experience in the being alone thing,” Hermione said. 

“I know,” he said. “I know that. Logically I know that you two are the best people to relate to me. I guess I’m just not used to being open about everything.”

“Well, we’re here for you. Whatever you need,” Hermione said, giving him a smile, reaching out and giving his a hand a squeeze. 

“Move in with me,” Tony blurted out. 

Hermione was taken aback. “What?”

Bruce cleared his throat. “I’m going to, um, just, um, I’ll just,” he didn’t finish, he just left the lab and headed back into his own, putting on headphones so he wouldn’t interrupt. 

Hermione turned back to Tony. “Can you repeat that?”

“Move in with me,” Tony repeated more deliberately. “That way we can free up Thor’s apartment again for when he returns to Earth, and I won’t have to be alone.”

“I can’t just move in with you,” Hermione said. “Where would I sleep?”

“We’ll figure that out. Just, please. After everything that has happened I would feel so much better that I’m not alone. And if you’re living with me, you can easily police my sleep habits.”

Hermione bit her lip, looking at Tony. Now that she was really looking at him, she could tell that he hadn’t been sleeping. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his hair didn’t look like it had been brushed in weeks. He was definitely rocking the mad scientist look. She could feel her resolve weakening. This was the last thing she needed, sharing a living space with her crush. But if it would help him get better, she would be a terrible friend if she didn’t at least try. 

She sighed. “I’ll have to get your fireplace hooked up to the floo network,” she said.

It took Tony a minute before it registered what exactly her words met. And as she watched his shoulder’s sag with relief and his face light up like a Christmas tree, that it would be worth whatever inconvenience to her to see him happy and for him to get sleep. She barely had time to brace herself before Tony had her up in his arms, holding her tightly against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head against his shoulder, returning the hug. 

“Thank you,” he whispered in her ear. 

“You’re welcome,” she whispered back, wondering if she just made a huge mistake or the best decision of her new life in America.


	14. Chapter 13

Bruce looked up as Hermione entered the lab, her hair in its customary ponytail. It had been a week since she moved into Tony’s penthouse, and every morning she came down alone. He was pretty sure their relationship hadn’t moved beyond the platonic stages, but he wasn’t entirely sure. However, since she had moved up there, Tony was coming down later in the morning and looking more and more well rested. He didn’t feel it was his place to question her about whatever was going on between them, but watching her walk in this morning, in her tight jeans and form fitting shirt, the attraction he felt for her came roaring to the forefront of his mind, followed closely with the burn of jealousy that he had been tempering since she moved in with their friend, and he couldn’t stop himself.

“Where’s Tony?” he asked, stopping her in her tracks. 

“Still sleeping. I swear that man can sleep through the end of the world. He’s been sleeping on the couch,” she explained, “and this morning I was making breakfast, and set the damn fire alarm off when I burnt my toast, and he slept right through it.”

“Well, he’s been pretty sleep deprived, his body is probably trying to catch up on sleep. Heal from all the damage he’s put on it,” Bruce said. 

“Probably,” she said. She flashed him a smile. “How are you doing? Are you getting enough rest?”

Bruce nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been sleeping well. It’s this place. Probably one of the most comfortable places I’ve slept. You?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Still trying to get used to Tony’s penthouse though. It feels weird sleeping in there. He still has pictures of Pepper everywhere. Makes me feel like an intruder.”

“If you ever need to get away, you know the code to my floor. You’re always welcome to join me,” Bruce winced a bit. He didn’t intend for that to come out as forward as it did. It sounded like he was inviting her into his bed.

Hermione smiled looked up at him through her lashes. “I just may have to take you up on that offer sometime,” she replied, a little flirtatiously. She gave him another smile,and a little wink, before she turned and started to head toward her lab.

Before he knew what he was doing, Bruce reached out and grabbed Hermione’s arm, stopping her in her tracks. 

“Bruce?” she asked, confused. 

Bruce swallowed. He didn’t know what came over him. The fact that she was always so damn nice to him. The flirtatious relationship they maintained since she moved in. The fact that she was flirting with him right now despite Tony being back and whatever there was between them. The fact that even though Tony asked her to move in with him, he was sleeping on the couch and he was obviously not over Pepper. Whatever it was, all of those things combined and he couldn’t stop himself from doing what he did next. He closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against hers. 

His heart beat accelerated, and he was about to pull away, regretting what he did, hoping that he didn’t just ruin their friendship with his impulsive actions, when Hermione returned the kiss. He felt her soft lips pressing against his, and his heart soared, and his confidence grew. He wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to his body. Hermione responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, running one through the hair on the back of his head. He ran his hands up her back, lifting her shirt a bit, touching the bare skin there, eliciting a moan out of Hermione, which he took advantage of by slipping his tongue between her eager lips. Their tongues battled one another and Bruce moved his hands down to her ass, gripping her tight cheeks bringing their hips together, pressing his eager erection against her body. Hermione reacted just how he wanted, pressing herself against his aching erection, trying to get closer to him. He reached down, lifting her legs off the ground and placing her on the counter nearest them, never once breaking their kiss. He brought one hand to her front, snaking it up her shirt, and massaging her breast through her bra, reveling in the mews he brought forth from her. With her on the counter, their height was just perfect for him to press his erection into the junction between her legs. They were separated by two pairs of jeans, but it didn’t make it feel any less amazing. It had been a long time for him. A long, long time. He broke off the kiss and began trailing kisses down her neck, never once wavering from the rhythm he set, reveling in Hermione’s moans and heavy breathing. He reached down and expertly undid the button on Hermione’s jeans, quickly shoving his hand inside, finding her wet. He didn’t waste any time before he rubbed her clit a few times before moving his fingers into her entrance. 

“Bruce,” Hermione moaned. “Yes,” she hissed out. “More. I need you, now,” she said, moving her hands to try and free him from his jeans. 

Bruce didn’t need to be told twice. As she worked him out of his jeans, he moved his hands to the waist of hers, pulling them down, watching them slip past her feet to pool on the ground. Then he was lining himself up with her entrance, pushing himself inside. Once he was completely sheathed he had to stop, and catch his breath. She was so tight and warm, and it had been so long since he had fucked anyone, that he was sure he was going to cum right then. He took deep breaths, the kind he usually used to stop the other guy from coming out, and then he started moving, and he was rewarded with the most glorious sound he had heard. He kept his pace steady, encouraged by the sounds Hermione was making. As he knew he was getting close, he moved a hand down to rub her clit, and soon he could feel her fluttering against him and along with her cries, knew she had cum. He quickened his pace, pounding into her a few more times before spilling himself inside of her. 

The lab was quiet save for their heavy breathing. Bruce rested his forehead on her shoulder, trying to catch his breath. He tensed up when he heard sniffling coming from her. He pulled back to see that Hermione was crying. He quickly backed up, tucking himself back into his jeans. When he was finished, he bent down and picked up Hermione’s clothes from the floor and handed them to her. He turned his back as she got down off the counter redressing her bottom half. He didn’t turn back around until he felt Hermione’s hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her, and his heart broke. This was not the reaction he was hoping for when he slept with a woman. She was crying , her arms folded across her chest.

“I’m sorry,” Bruce said. “I shouldn’t have—”

“No,” Hermione interrupted. “Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong. I should be the one apologizing. I don’t usually cry after sex, especially amazing sex, it’s just that was the first time since—”

“Since your husband,” Bruce said mentally chastising himself. He was such an idiot. 

Hermione nodded, wiping her hands under her eyes. “Yeah,” she said, her voice filled with emotion. “I’m sorry. I really am. I,” she paused. “I really enjoyed what we just did.”

Bruce laughed awkwardly. “How come I feel like there’s going to be a but?”

“But,” Hermione said, “I don’t think we should do it again.”

Bruce swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. This was not going as he had hoped it would go. If he had even hoped it would go any way. He hadn’t really thought through his impulsive action. And his already fragile ego felt like it was about to crumble. He shouldn’t have done anything. He should have just left well enough alone. 

“Oh,” was all Bruce managed to say. 

“I’m sorry, but I just, I…Oh My god, I need to tell Tony that we just, in the lab, just like he accused us of when he came back.”

Bruce stood up straighter, “Why, why, why do we need to tell Tony? Does he really need to know, if this was just a one off? I mean, if we’re never going to do this again, what good is telling Tony?”

“I can’t not tell him,” she said. “I—” she broke off, looking back down at her feet. 

Bruce brought his hands to his mouth and exhaled. “You’re in love with him,” he whispered. 

Hermione shrugged. “I don’t know,” she whispered back. “I just know that there’s something between us. And I just, I don’t know. I know he isn’t ready for anything to happen between us. He still needs time to get over Pepper and deal with his demons. And I want you to know that I wouldn’t have slept with you if I didn’t want to. I wanted to. I think the last few months were building up to this moment. And it was amazing,” she paused giving Bruce a radiant smile, and every negative thing Bruce was thinking about himself melted away in that moment, and somewhere his confidence came back and he didn’t know where what he said next came from but he just went with it.

“Then why can’t we do this again?”

Hermione looked at him, “What?”

“Well,” Bruce started. “I mean, we’re already friends, and we already like each other, so we have that. So, what if we just, have sex every once in a while. I’m not seeing anyone. You’re not seeing anyone. What’s it going to hurt?”

Hermione bit her lip. “Like friends with benefits?”

“Exactly,” Bruce said, a little too enthusiastically.

“I’ve heard that friends with benefits doesn’t usually work out, usually feelings get involved and someone ends up getting hurt.”

“If things start getting weird, we’ll stop the benefits part and go back to being just friends.”

“Do you really think it would be that easy?” Hermione asked.

“I do, because we’re both analytical thinkers, and we can manage something like this.”

“What about Tony?”

“What? You mean, with your feelings for him?”

Hermione nodded.

“Well, if you think that something is going to develop between you guys, you need to tell me, and then we’ll stop what we’re doing.”

“That easy?”

“That easy.”

“Do you think we should tell Tony?” Hermione asked.

“Tell Tony what?” a voice came from behind them. 

They both turned to see Tony walking into the room, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Bruce and I slept together,” Hermione blurted out, causing both men to turn and stare at her. 

Bruce quickly turned to watch for Tony’s reaction. He braced himself for angry accusations, prepared himself to defend their actions.

“Oh,” Tony said. “That’s nice.” He moved into the room walking over to the coffee pot they kept in there. “So, are you guys together now, was this a one off, what’s the deal?” he asked pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Hermione and Bruce exchanged a look. 

“Um,” Hermione started. “We’re not together, we’re just keeping things in the friends with benefits category.”

“Casual fucking,” Tony said, taking a sip of his coffee. “Good for you two. Didn’t know you had it in you. But two things. One, don’t fuck in the lab, this is a shared space. And two, don’t fuck in my bed. If you’re going to fuck, do it in Bruce’s apartment, no one needs to see that.”

Bruce and Hermione nodded.

“Great, now if you don’t need to tell me anything else, I’ll just be going back into our lab, and reading more about Potions,” Tony said, leaving the couple alone.

Bruce and Hermione shared a look.

“That went better than I thought it would,” Bruce said.

Hermione stared through the open doorway where Tony walked through. “Yeah, it did.”

TSHG

 

Tony sat down on the couch in Hermione’s lab, setting his coffee mug on the table in front of him. Before he picked up a potions book to start reading, he put his hands on his face, resting his arms on his knees. Bruce and Hermione were fucking. He knew it was a matter of time before something like that happened. He couldn’t expect her to just wait around for him to be ready. And he saw the two of them together. They were always flirting. Which he had to hand it to Bruce. He knew getting close to someone else was difficult for him, but he was able to let go a little and form whatever there was between him and Hermione. He just couldn’t help but wish that it didn’t happen. Now he had to always wonder if Hermione wasn’t back home if she was with Bruce, doing the things he wished she was doing with him. He groaned and leaned back against the couch. Why did he always have to be such a fuck up? Suddenly he sprang up into a sitting position. Hermione was very quick to reassure him that what she and Bruce were doing was casual. Friends with Benefits. Which meant that he still had a chance. He needed to get his shit together so he could steal his girl back from his best friend. Tony smiled. He bent over and picked up the potions book he was currently reading and sat back, feeling self assured that he didn’t lose the girl, he just misplaced her temporarily. But that would all change. There was still hope they could be together.


	15. Chapter 14

Tony looked up when Hermione walked into the lab. To say things between them had been a little awkward since she and Banner had started their friends with benefits arrangement would be an understatement. Every time she came in late, every time her hair just looked a little out of place, he couldn’t help but wonder if she had just finished fucking his best friend. As weeks passed, he wondered why he was so quick to accept what they were doing. If he were smart, he would have put up a stink about it, because he knew Banner too well, and he knew if he said he wasn’t okay with them fucking, he would have stepped back, that was the type of person he was. But, he also knew that Hermione didn’t want to be a rebound, she wanted to be in a real relationship. Ironically, he was just starting to feel like maybe he was finally over Pepper enough to pursue Hermione, when Hermione and Bruce told him they were fucking. And Tony had to admit, it stung a little bit, even though Hermione had no idea of his feelings, it almost felt like she was choosing Bruce over him. Maybe Hermione having this casual fling with Bruce would give them both time get to the point where they were ready to be in a relationship. And as logically as he thought all of this out, he just couldn’t help but worry that there was a chance that when she was ready for a serious relationship she would choose Banner, due to the fact that they were already sleeping together, and he would lose out completely.

“Good morning,” Tony greeted, trying to be cheerful.

Hermione stopped and pointed over her shoulder. “I just shared an elevator with a large man with blond hair.”

Tony laughed. “That would be Thor. He’s staying with us for a while to try and help Jane, his girlfriend, readjust after she went through, whatever it was she went through. I tried to pay attention, but it was hard and full of Asgardian mumbo jumbo.”

“I didn’t know Thor was back,” Hermione said. “It’s a good think I don’t live in his place anymore. That would have been awkward.”

Tony smiled. “Well, probably no more awkward than things in this tower are now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hermione asked, immediately tensing up.

“I’m just saying that things haven’t been exactly comfortable around here since…”

“Since?”

“Since, you know,” Tony said.

“No I don’t know, please enlighten me, Tony,” Hermione said, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Fine, if you want me to say it, I’ll be blunt,” Tony said, setting aside his books and notes and standing up. “Since you and Bruce started fucking.”

“Oh, that’s real nice, Tony,” Hermione said.

“You asked for me to say it, so I did.”

“I thought you were okay with this? You encouraged it!”

“I thought I was okay with it, too!” Tony shouted. “But all I can think about when I see you is whether or not the reason you’re not in the apartment or in the lab is because you’re sleeping with Banner and that thought just makes me feel so…”

“So, what?!” Hermione yelled.

“Jealous!” Tony screamed. “I’m jealous,” he repeated, in a quieter tone.

Hermione brought her hands to her face. “Merlin!” she groaned. 

“I’m very attracted to you, I thought you knew that. I was sure that I made that clear with all the kissing that we’ve done in the past. But I respected your space, and the fact that you didn’t want to be the other woman or the rebound. And then a few weeks ago you blindside me with the fact that you and Bruce are doing whatever it you’re doing. But I didn’t want to seem like an ass, because you and he deserve something, you’re both so isolated, and I’m pretty sure it’s been a decade since Bruce got laid. But now all I can think about is you and Bruce together, and it makes me want to destroy things.”

Hermione ran her hands through her hair, causing it to frizz even more than normal. She hadn’t had a chance to pull it up into her customary pony tail, and Tony took a second to admire the sheer volume of it, realizing the importance of the pony tail. He had just finished reading a chapter about how it was of the utmost importance to not contaminate potions with things that weren’t supposed to be in them, and her hair would definitely be in danger of contaminating any potion she brewed.

“We are complete rubbish at communicating, you realize that?” Hermione said, with a sardonic laugh.

“Why? Why would you say that?”

“Because the reason why Bruce and I are doing what we are doing, is because I thought you weren’t ready to move on from Pepper yet.”

“You didn’t want to be the rebound,” Tony reminded her again.

“I know. Hence the arrangement with Bruce!”

Tony threw his hands up in the air in frustration. All this time, he was ready to move on from Pepper, she was ready to start something with him, but they were unable to do anything about it because they didn’t talk. They just assumed.

“Well, fuck,” Tony said. 

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.”

“So all this time that we’ve been living together, we could have been…” he trailed off, making a rude gesture with his hands.

Hermione shrugged. “Possibly.”

Tony let out another string of obscenities. Of course. “Any chance that we can, I don’t know, maybe?”

Hermione sighed. “I don’t know. Things are now so complicated. I don’t want to hurt Bruce.”

“How often are you two sleeping together?” Tony asked. He realized it seemed rather blunt and intrusive, but fuck, they’ve already wasted so much time, that he wasn’t about to waste any more. 

Hermione blushed, averting her gaze away from him, and suddenly finding the ceiling of the lab incredibly interesting. “Not that it’s any of your business, but we’ve only slept together twice more after that first time before you found us in the lab.”

“Only three times?” Tony asked, bewildered. He was sure that they were sleeping together more than that.

“Yes. We just, we didn’t want emotions to get involved. And while it’s nice to have, um, physical relief every once in a while, it’s really hard for me to sleep with him, when…”

“When?” Tony prompted.

“When I would rather be with another man,” Hermione said, bringing her gaze back down to meet his.

“We need to uncomplicate things, and uncomplicate them quickly,” Tony said, his voice strained.

“Why?”

“Because I want to take you right now on this lab counter, but I will not hurt Banner. I think he has some feelings for you, and he’s my best friend. I won’t make a move as long as you’re doing anything with him. But the second that you tell me that things have ended with him, so help me, nothing can stop me.”

Hermione’s face turned red, and her breathing noticeably sped up. She brought her hands up and clasped them on the back of her neck. She let out a slow breath. Tony’s chest swelled in pride that he had that effect on her. He also hoped that she went and ended things with Banner soon, because he really wanted to make good on his promise, and he hoped he would be able to make good on it soon.

Hermione looked like she was about to tell him something, but whatever she was going to say was cut off when it looked like a sharp pain went through her.

“Ah!” she cried out, wincing bringing her hands up to her forehead.

“Hermione?” Tony asked, concerned.

She didn’t answer as another wave went through her and she cried out as she doubled over in pain.

Tony rushed across the room and caught her before she fell to the ground, wrapping his arms around her, bringing her to his chest, slowly lowering them both to the ground.

“Hermione, you need to tell me what’s wrong,” Tony said, panic starting to well up in his chest. He tried to take his deep breaths he and Banner practiced so that he would be able to utilize them when he felt a panic attack coming on, but it was really hard. Watching his friend in pain and not knowing what to do seemed to be a huge trigger to his anxiety, and he was struggling hard to try and remain calm so that he could help her. He lifted his wrist with his watch to his mouth. 

“J.A.R.V.I.S.,” he said into the watch, activating it.

“Yes, sir?” the A.I. answered.

“Tell Bruce he is needed in the lab, now,” Tony said into the watch before turning his attention back to the woman in his arms. 

He pulled back so that he could look her in the eye, bringing both hands to either side of her face. “Hermione? What’s wrong? Try and talk to me, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”

Hermione opened her eyes, and looked at him. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she was breathing heavily. “Someone’s trying to break through my wards,” she gasped out.

“What does that mean?” Tony asked, as he heard the elevator open and heavy footsteps come running into their direction. 

“What’s wrong?” Bruce said as he flew into the room kneeling on the ground next to the couple.

“Someone’s trying to break through her wards,” Tony explained, catching the other man up.

“What does that mean?” Bruce asked, echoing Tony’s earlier question.

Hermione took a deep breath. “When I moved in I cast all sorts of different spells around the building to try and keep other wizards out, unless they’re keyed into my wards. The only other wizards who I have keyed in are Harry and Ginny, who are in London. So any other wizard who would happen upon the building would just feel this strange compulsion to not look at it and just keep walking.”

“But,” Tony prompted.

“But,” Hermione continued. “Right now the wards, which are keyed to me, are being triggered, which means that someone is trying really hard to get in this building who shouldn’t.” Hermione paused, before she looked up at Tony, grabbing onto his shirt in a panic. 

“Merlin, he found me.”

Tony didn’t even have to ask her who she meant. “Are you sure?”

“Who else can it be?”

“Literally anyone,” Bruce said. “Do you think it could be a local wizard who used to do business in the tower and just realized that they can’t come in anymore. Or maybe one of your friends who you didn’t key into the system are trying to get in. One of your customers. I mean, how would Dolohov even know you’re here?”

Hermione stood up and rushed into her lab, Tony and Bruce quickly following behind her. She moved to her desk yanking open a drawer. She pulled out a small stack of letters, handing them to Bruce. “Because I’ve been lax with these and I have just been shoving them in this drawer rather than checking them for tracing spells and turning them in to Harry.”

Tony reached over and grabbed one of the letters from Bruce and scanned it. What he read made his blood boil. It was full of threats. Detailed threats. Threats that if carried out would probably be worse than anything she endured during the war. Tony set the letter he was holding down on the desk, and he could vaguely hear Bruce and Hermione talking in the background.

“How long have you been getting these?”

“Since I moved in,” Hermione said. “I didn’t think anything of it, since the letters have never stopped, they had just slowed down over the years. But recently they’ve increased in frequency.”

“Increased? By how much?”

“They went from once every couple months to once a week,” Hermione said.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Hermione shrugged. “I guess for the first time in a long time I felt protected. This tower seems almost impenetrable. And for the first time in six years, I’m not alone. I have you two, and apparently now Thor. Living with the Avengers has given me a boost of confidence I haven’t had in years. So, I guess I figured they’re not a big deal.”

“Until now,” Bruce stated.

“Until now,” Hermione agreed. 

Before he could stop and think about what he was doing, his left hand shot out and he flexed his wrist. The pieces of his new suit came flying in, attaching themselves to his body.

“Tony!” Hermione yelled. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going down there to see what’s going on. And take out a dark wizard if I need to,” he replied after his face plate slammed into place, J.A.R.V.I.S. booting up immediately. For being mostly a prototype the suit was surprisingly functional.

“You can’t just take on Dolohov alone! You’re just a Muggle,” Hermione said.

“Not just any Muggle, a Muggle with a super suit. There’s a huge difference,” Tony said, heading toward the door.

“Wait,” Bruce said. “Let me come help you,” his eyes flashed green for a second before returning to their natural brown. 

Tony turned back around. “No, you stay here, just in case I can’t keep him back, I’ll need someone up here to hold him back. Between you and Hermione, you’ll be able to finish off what I started.”

Tony didn’t wait for Bruce to respond before turning back and walking out the door and heading toward the elevator, he pushed the button and waited for it to arrive. When the doors opened, he stepped inside, feeling a bit ridiculous doing so in his full armor. He pushed the lobby button, and right as the doors started closing, Hermione slipped into the elevator with him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, annoyed.

“This is not your battle to fight. This is mine. So, I’m coming with you. Don’t argue.”

Tony held his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m not arguing. I know better than to argue with you.”

As the elevator descended, Tony glanced over at Hermione. She was looking at the floor of the elevator, taking deep breaths. Her wand was in her hand, and her left foot tapped a steady rhythm. As well as he could in his armor, he draped his arm across her shoulders, bringing her closer into him. She jumped, and then looked up at him with a smile. She stood up on her tip toes, placing a kiss on his mask. 

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You don’t need to thank me. You’re not alone anymore. The team will always be here to protect you.”

Hermione leaned against him for the rest of the ride down, and Tony psyched himself up for a battle. He had never really seen magic at work. He watched Hermione brew, true. But she had never used her wand in front of him. He had read what was supposed to happen, but he was sure seeing it would be completely different. The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened. He took a deep breath and looked down at Hermione. 

“Ready?” he asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. 

The exited together and started toward the door. Hermione had her wand at the ready, and Tony had his hands up, ready to strike as soon as Hermione confirmed it was Dolohov. Man would it be satisfying to fuck him up. They opened the door, and Hermione came to a halt. Tony stopped next to her, and he was about to fire on the man who had his wand up until Hermione put hers away and moved toward him. Tony, followed, confused.

“Neville!” Hermione greeted. “What on Earth are you doing here?”

“Harry sent me,” the man named Neville answered. “He told me where to get you, unfortunately he failed to mention you’d warded the place. I had no way to get you let you know I was here, so I did the only thing I knew, tried to break the wards. Which, good job, by the way. State of the art,” he paused, pointing at Tony. “Iron Man?”

Hermione nodded. “My landlord and friend, Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. Tony this is my good friend, Neville Longbottom.” 

Tony stifled a laugh at hearing the last name, before answering. “Nice to meet you Neville. I would shake your hand, but..” He gestured at his gauntlets.

“No, no, I understand,” Neville answered.

“Why did Harry send you?” Hermione asked. “Why not just come himself? He has floo access.”

“They’ve gotten a lead on Dolohov, and Harry is heading a team to bring him in. They need you in London right away so they can get charges filed immediately after they get him there. They’re worried he still has pull with the Wizengomet and will be able to be released if charges aren’t filed. So I’m here to bring you there.”

“When do we need to leave?” Hermione asked. 

Neville pulled out an old pair of shoes tied together by the laces, and tossed one to Hermione. “Now,” he said, as Hermione caught the shoe in her hand. And in a blink of an eye Tony watched as Hermione and Neville disappeared right before his eyes.


	16. Chapter 15

Hermione stepped out of the floo into her shared living room with Tony and dusted the soot off of her clothes before stalking into the apartment toward the bedroom. She was muttering under her breath as she stalked her way across the room. She wasn’t even sure what time it was, but it was dark outside. Given that it was fall, that could mean anything. She just knew the second that she was able to leave London, she found the nearest floo and was shouting out the address for Stark Tower, while Harry ran after her. She flung her arm back behind her, closing the floo off from any unwanted visitors. 

She threw open the bedroom door and jumped when the person lying in the bed leapt up and took a defensive pose. She held her hands up in surrender.

“It’s me, it’s me,” she breathed out quickly, trying to not set Tony off any more. She should have realized he would have been back in the bedroom. Why sleep on the couch when the bed had been free for days.

“Hermione?” Tony said, reaching over to turn on the light on the bedside table. “What time is it?”

“I have no idea,” Hermione said. “I didn’t check a clock before heading back. But I’m guessing it’s late or early.”

“What happened?” Tony said, rubbing his hands down his face. “You just disappeared. And you weren’t answering the phone I gave you. I didn’t know if you were even going to come back. I mean if they caught Dolohov and he’s in wizard prison there’s no reason for you to come back here.”

“Yeah, they didn’t catch him,” Hermione said, moving toward the closet and looking through it for a change of clothes.

“What?” Tony said, sitting up straighter in bed. “What do you mean they didn’t catch him? That Longbottom guy said that they had a lead. Your friend was leading the mission. What happened?”

Hermione turned back around holding a sweatshirt and yoga pants in her hands. “Yeah, that’s what they thought. I got there just as they were coming back from the mission, empty handed. They said that they traced him to a remote location, but when they got there, the hideout was empty, save for some rubbish and a taunting note.”

“If it was all a bust, why were you gone almost a week?”

“Because they were worried about me after what the note said.”

“I’m guessing the taunting note was some kind of threat to your person, like most of the other notes that you were sent.”

“BINGO,” Hermione said, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, turning to face Tony, who was still sitting under the covers. “They were worried, said that I needed a protective detail. I told them that I lived in a building with the bloody Avengers, one of whom is a fucking god, and that I would be fine, but they still insisted that I stay. And not at Grimmauld. Oh, no. They wanted me to stay at the fucking Ministry. Under twenty four hour Auror protection.”

Tony moved forward. “How did you get away?”

“I told them I had to use the loo and made a run for the floo.”

“What’s going to stop them from coming here?”

“I closed the floo, so…”

“Can’t your friend just walk in the front door and ask to see you?”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Hermione said.

“What makes you so sure about that?”

“Because Harry knows better than to come storming in here like the calvary. He knows I would hex his bollocks off without any hesitation.”

Tony chuckled. “Well, now I know that I don’t want to be on the wrong end of your wrath.”

Hermione smiled. “Yes, best you keep on my good side, or you won’t know what hit you.”

“I missed you,” Tony said, suddenly serious. “This place was feeling a little too empty without you.”

“How can it feel empty? You have Bruce and Thor!” Hermione said.

“That’s different. They’re not here.”

Hermione gave him a smile. “I know what you mean. I was surrounded by people all the time at the Ministry, and I never felt more alone. I love Harry, I do. But it just wasn’t the same as having you around.”

Silence spread between them, and they shared a look. 

“Did you end things with Bruce?” Tony asked.

Hermione shook her head. “When would I have had time? I just got back.”

“Fuck,” Tony cursed closing his eyes. “Trying to do right by you is going to be the death of me.”

Hermione smiled. “Patience,” she said. “We have time.”

“How do you know? An alien could come down and eat this tower, and I’ll never have had the chance to sleep with you.”

Hermione shook her head. “Because one of us has to be the optimist in this Tower, and you and Bruce have enough negativity to make up for whatever positivity I emit.”

“When did you become so wise, Glinda?”

“I think it was spending a year living with two teenage boys in a tent in the woods.”

“Yeah, that couldn’t have been the greatest experience, I was in boarding school, teenage boys are gross.”

“So gross.”

“I want to kiss you.”

“What a segue.”

“Our banter turns me on.”

“Tony.”

“I know. It’s late. Want the bed?”

Hermione shook her head. “No, go back to sleep. I want to shower and then I’ll just sleep on the couch. First thing in the morning I’ll talk to Bruce.”

“Promise?” 

“Promise.”

TS HG

Hermione paced the lab. She hadn’t really slept the night before, she was still pissed at Harry for essentially holding her hostage at the ministry. And to make things worse, Molly had shown up. And that just made her feel so much worse. She hadn’t seen her former mother-in-law since she had moved to America. And she could feel the guilt rising in her the second she was in the same room as her. Guilt that she was sleeping with one man, and falling in love with another. She knew she shouldn’t feel guilty, it had been over six years since Ron’s death, but still. She felt like she was dishonoring his memory with moving on. And was she moving on too quickly? Should she still be in mourning? What was an appropriate amount of time before it was okay to move on? All questions she felt had already been answered, but the second Molly walked into the room, they all came flooding back to her. And how would she explain to Molly that the men she chose to move on from Ron with it were Iron Man and the Hulk. How would that look?

Eventually after her panic attack, things were lovely with Molly, she just left out the Avengers stuff. She would find out soon enough, when there was something to tell. And it would be a long time before Hermione went to visit Harry and the kids again. She just couldn’t risk not being able to get back. The fact that she was held in the Ministry and not invited back to Grimmauld should have been her first clue. There were anti-Apparition charms in the Ministry. She couldn’t get out. The fact that the Aurors keeping guard yesterday let her go to the loo on her own was great for her, terrible for them. It was the first time she was able to get away to find a floo and get home. She smiled to herself. Home. It’s strange that she had only lived in the tower almost a year, and yet, it felt more like home here than anywhere else she had lived.

She stopped pacing and looked up as Bruce walked into the lab.

“You’re back?” he said, stopping in the doorway, taking her in. “And you look like shit.”

“You really know how to flatter a girl,” she said, her voice coming out sounding just as nervous as she was feeling.

“What’s wrong?” Bruce asked.

“Why do you think somethings wrong?”

“Because I know you, Hermione. I can tell when somethings up.”

Hermione sighed. “We need to talk.”

“You’re ending our arrangement.”

“Merlin, Bruce. Can’t I get a word in before you demonstrate how well you can just read my mind?”

Bruce let out a bitter laugh. “I figured this day would come eventually. It’s Tony, isn’t it,” Bruce didn’t even bother framing that as a question. “Of course it is. How long have the two of you been together?”

“We’re not,” Hermione said. “I couldn’t do that to you. We realized we were on the same page right before I was whisked away for my forced visit home. I just got back last night. I told Tony I didn’t want to do anything with him as long as we were still in our arrangement.”

Bruce sighed. “I guess I should have expected this. I mean, I did expect this, eventually. I just expected that we would have had A LOT more sex before this came to fruition.”

Hermione gave him a sad smile. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to hurt you, we had agreed that it would all be platonic, but…”

“Feelings always get involved. I know,” Bruce said, sardonically. “I’m okay, really. I care about you, you’re one of my closest friends. But I’m not in love with you. I think what we did was good. It showed me that I can have a relationship if I can just find the right person. Someone who can accept me for who I am.”

Hermione walked over to Bruce and pulled him into a hug. “We’re still friends, right? We didn’t ruin that did we?”

Bruce gave her a squeeze, mumbling into her shoulder. “Of course not. We’re still friends. Just without the extra benefits now.”

“Good, because we all work in the same lab, and I don’t want things to get awkward here.”

“Things are probably going to be a little awkward at first, but they’ll even out after a little bit. I promise.”

Hermione stepped back, giving Bruce a genuine smile. “Don’t worry, we won’t be flaunting our relationship around here. Or whatever there ends up being between us. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“You mean, I won’t have to worry about walking in on you guys in your lab?”

“Yeah, you definitely don’t have to worry about that. Sex in the lab will remain as a thing that happened between us. It’ll be our thing.”

Bruce smiled. “I can handle that. And if you and Tony don’t work out, I would be very happy to be a rebound.”

Hermione smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn’t want to use you like that.”

“Fair enough.”

“Are we going to be okay?”

Bruce was quiet while he pondered. “Yeah,” he said after a few minutes. “I think we’ll be just fine.”

TS HG

Tony walked into the lab and saw Bruce hard at work on whatever it was that he was working on. He didn’t look up when he walked through, and that was Tony’s first clue that something happened, and he tried to keep his glee from showing. He schooled his features as he walked through the lab and entered Hermione’s. She was busy stirring a potion, and Tony knew better than to interrupt. He did that once and he will never do it again. He had never seen his witch so angry. Her hair seemed to spark as she yelled at him. He leaned against the door jamb and waited for her to be finished. She gave the potion two more counter clockwise stirs and then turned around to look at Tony, giving him an appreciative smile.

“You talked to Bruce,” Tony stated.

Hermione pulled out her wand, and cast a quick charm. “Silencing charm,” she explained tucking the wand back into her sleeve. “I don’t think it’s fair for Bruce to overhear anything that we’re going to talk about.”

Tony straightened up and moved further into the room. “So, you did talk to Bruce.”

“I did.”

“And it’s done? Your arrangement?”

Hermione nodded. “It is.”

“Good.”

Tony moved across the room, closing the gap between them, before bringing his hands to her face, bringing her in for a kiss. Like the other two kisses before, it just felt right. He thought that he and Pepper had a connection and that’s why they worked so well together, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe there was so much more to a relationship than what he and Pepper had. They were two people who merely existed together. He had loved her, very much. But there was never this spark, or feeling of just fitting together like there was with Hermione. He felt drawn to her the moment they met, and he couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t all an accident that he ended up where he ended up when he landed in Tennessee. Well, the scientist in him knew logically that he ended up where he ended up because he had already started up a flight plan there. But apparently the hidden chick flick version of himself was starting to believe in fate or whatever. 

Tony pushed all thoughts out of his mind when Hermione wrapped her arms around Tony’s neck pulling him in closer, opening her mouth to welcome his tongue and deepen the kiss. Tony moved his hands from her face, running them down her sides, before settling them on her hips. He moved from her lips and began peppering kisses down her neck, reveling in her sighs, smiling against her neck. He moved back up, recapturing her lips. He moved his hands around her back side feeling her incredibly tight ass. He would have to ask her when on earth she managed to find time to take advantage of the gym facilities. He pulled her even closer, and groaned when he felt her body come in contact with his aching erection. He had been wanting to fuck her for so long and it was finally going to happen. Hopefully on his couch. Fuck, he had been fantasizing about taking her on that damn couch for weeks. And then just as quickly as their kiss had begun, Hermione was pushing him away and moving across the room.

“Is everything okay?” Tony asked, fighting for his breath. 

“Yeah, no. We can’t have sex in the lab,” Hermione said, wringing her hands, equally out of breath.

“What?” Tony asked, wondering if he had heard her right.

“We can’t have sex in the lab. I promised Bruce that things wouldn’t be awkward, and that he wouldn’t have to worry about walking in on us.”

“Do a little spell to keep him out!” Tony said, frustrated. 

Hermione shook her head. “I won’t do that. I can’t just break a promise to him, literally an hour after I gave said promise.”

“Why does it matter so much? We can’t have sex in the lab? Ever? Surely when Banner is off doing self discovery we can? He wouldn’t even be in the same building.”

“No sex in the lab, I promised.”

Tony sighed. “I don’t understand why this would be the one thing you would promise Banner in order to end things. I mean…wait…” Tony said, suddenly having a moment of clarity. “Oh my god,” he said. “You two had sex in the lab.”

Hermione didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. She looked down at the ground, her face reddening. 

Tony cursed, running his hands through his hair. He didn’t know why, but this made him irrationally angry. This was his lab, and he wanted to fuck his girl on his couch. “How many times did you fuck in this lab?”

Hermione bit her lip, but didn’t look up. He watched her take a couple deep breaths before looking up at him, wrapping her arms around herself. “A lot.”

Tony turned around and kicked the leg of one of the counters. “Fuck,” he shouted, thankful for the silencing charm Hermione had cast. “The couch?” he asked, gesturing toward it.

Hermione shook her head. “Never in here, mostly in his work area.”

Tony nodded his head. “Fine, fine. Was it all a big ‘Fuck You Tony’ for you guys?”

“What?” Hermione asked shaking her head. 

“Your escapades. I mean, I did accuse you when I returned of fucking in the lab and then you guys were like, ‘you know what would really stick it to Tony while he’s heartbroken? Fucking in the lab.’”

“That’s not fair,” Hermione bit out. “You knew Bruce and I were together. We were honest with you. You never told us anywhere was off limits.”

“No, that’s for you and him to tell me.” Tony spit back

“What’s going on?” Hermione asked on the verge of tears. “Why are we fighting?”

“You know why,” Tony said.

“I really don’t. So what if we can’t have sex in the bloody lab. We have the whole fucking Tower.”

“Not. The. Point.”

“Then what is the point?”

“That Banner fucked you in the first place! He knew that I had feelings for you, and I thought that you had feelings for me. He should have known to keep his hands off of you. I had dibs first.”

Tony knew the second those words left his lips that he was fucked. If he thought her hair looked like it sparked when he interrupted her brewing, it was nothing compared to the lightning storm going around her head at the moment.

“I am not your fucking property, Tony Stark, and it would be good of you to keep that little bit of information at the forefront of your mind. I won’t be having you treat me as such. I am a human, and I am independent, and if I ever hear you refer to me as something to be ‘dibbed’ you will learn what it feels like to be very strongly hexed,” Hermione almost whispered, her throat constricting with tears, before she started walking toward the lab door. 

“Where are you going?” Tony asked, not even moving from his spot. If he turned around, he would forget that he was angry. And he wanted to hold a grudge for a few hours because he still hadn’t had sex with Hermione and it was all fucking Banner’s fault.

“Away for a bit. I’m going to go find a hotel. I need some space.”

“Fine,” Tony bit out, sounding every bit the petulant child.

“Don’t bother trying to call me, I won’t answer. I’ll be back when I can stand to be in the same room with you.”

Tony listened as she walked through the lab and into the elevator. As soon as he heard the doors close, he walked over to the couch and sank down into it putting his hands over his face. In true Tony Stark fashion, he completely fucked up.


	17. Chapter 16

Hermione walked into the hotel room she was given at the front desk, and as soon as she closed the door behind her she sank to the floor and cried. She didn’t know how she did it, but she managed to ruin her relationship with Tony before it even began. But she was a woman of her word, and she was going to stand by her convictions. Maybe she and Tony would always be like this, constantly butting heads. Never getting the timing right. Maybe she was doomed to just live out the rest of her life as a widow. The universe was obviously trying to tell her something. She wiped her eyes and stood up. She looked around the dark room and frowned. For being a moderately expensive hotel, the room had a strange odor. She took out her wand and cast a freshening up charm before moving to the window and throwing open the drapes, letting the sunshine into the room, and walking over to the bed. She didn’t bring much with her, since she only planned on staying the night and returning in the morning. She wasn’t sure what she would do once she went back to the tower. She wasn’t sure if she would want to share an apartment with Tony anymore, especially if they decide to not be together in a romantic capacity. She sighed and laid back on the bed. This whole thing was fucked up. 

She must have dozed off because she startled when she heard a noise in the room. It had grown dark in the room, so she knew she had fallen asleep. She was still jet-lagged, for lack of a better word. She looked around the room, and just when she started thinking she had heard things when she heard it again, like footsteps on the carpeted floor. 

“Hello? Tony??” she asked, hoping it was her estranged friend.

Whoever was in the room let out a dark chuckle that sent chills down her spine. “Oh, Granger, it really has been too long.”

Hermione froze as she heard his voice. A voice she hadn’t heard for six years. He had found her. How had he found her? And then she remembered the freshening charm. The lack of wards. She had been careless. She flicked her arm down and grabbed her wand. “Expecto-” she started, but was cut off when Dolohov shouted at the same time “Expelliarmus!”. 

“Now, now, Granger, none of that,” his voice came to her in the dark. “You’ll spoil all the fun.” 

He lunged toward her on the bed, and she let out a scream.

* * * * * * * * * * *

 

Tony sat in his lab tinkering with his suit. He had finished reading all the books Hermione had given him on potions making, but she still hadn’t come back from wherever she went. It had been two weeks, and he hadn’t heard anything from her. Not without trying, though. He called her cell. A lot. For a while it would ring and ring until her voice mail kicked in. And now, the phone would just go straight to voice mail. He moved and grabbed another screw driver from his workbench and tightened the finger joints on his suit so that they would move a little more fluidly. He heard footsteps approaching him. He looked up to see Bruce in the room. 

“She’s still gone?”

“Yeah.”

“Want to tell me what made her leave?”

“We fought, she left, I don’t know what else I need to tell you.”

“Maybe what you fought about?” Bruce stated.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Bruce sighed, and walked into Hermione’s lab. “Well, I’m starting to worry that something is wrong.”

Tony put down the gauntlet and the screwdriver, standing up. “What makes you think something is wrong?”

“Well, for one, she’s not answering her phone, and it’s now going straight to voice mail. And you would think if she would be gone this long, she would have stopped the owls or had them forwarded, but look,” Bruce gestured to the pile of mail on the ground near the window. “The owls are still coming here with her orders. Her stuff is all still here. My gut is telling me something is wrong.”

“She’s not answering your calls either?” Tony said, staring in the room, his heart rate picking up. He could feel the familiar feelings of a panic attack happening. He was having flashbacks to watching Pepper fall into the flames thinking he had lost her forever. But this was so much worse. He didn’t even know where Hermione was, or if she really was in trouble. She could have gone back to London. But she hadn’t come back for more clothes. But she was magic. 

The elevator dinged and he heard more footsteps, he and Bruce turned suddenly to face the doorway. He held his breath, hoping against hope that it was her.

“Tony, Bruce,” he heard Thor calling out . 

“Back here,” Bruce answered. 

Thor came back into the lab dressed in the clothes he wore when he was spending time out in the city with Jane. And he wasn’t alone. Tony immediately tensed up getting his hand ready to summon his suit. 

“Who is that?” he asked.

“Oh, he was downstairs yelling at the man behind the desk. He was demanding to see—”

“Where is she?” the man with round glasses on his face shouted, charging into the room. “Where’s Hermione?”

“Why do you want to know?” Tony asked, still keeping his hand at the ready.

“I’m Harry, her best friend. I haven’t heard from her in days. Usually we talk once a day, but the floo is still blocked off. And I know she’s upset with me for wanting to keep her in protective custody, but usually she stews for a day and then we make up. This is not like her. She’s not even answering her owls from anybody.”

Tony let his hand drop. “You haven’t heard from her either?”

“Not one word since she left.”

Tony felt dread forming in his stomach like a cold block of ice. 

“Is she not here?” Harry asked.

Tony shook his head. “We had a fight. She went to go stay at a hotel for a little bit, cool off. I have been trying to call her and apologize and beg her to just come back, but shes not answering her phone.”

“A hotel??” Harry asked. “Do you know if she set her wards?”

Tony shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t exactly been able to talk to her since she left.”

Harry let out a string of curses. “How could you just let her leave, especially now?”

“She made it very clear that I don’t own her, so I don’t know how I would have been able to stop her from doing anything.”

“How much do you know about Dolohov?”

“That he cursed her when she was fifteen, and the curse might have a tracking spell attached to it. That he’s been sending her letters since the war ended. He killed her husband. And you guys thought you had a lead on him and that resulted in you holding her hostage for a while.”

“Did she tell you about the letter we found in his former hideout?”

“Just that it was another typical letter threatening her,” Tony answered.

Harry shook his head. “It was not a typical letter. It had pictures of Hermione in Rose Hill walking to and from work. Of the two of you together on Christmas Eve. Of her coming and going from here, always accompanied by the two of you,” Harry said gesturing between Bruce and Tony. “The letter explained that he knew where she was, and at the first opportunity he saw, he would take her and teach her her place in the world. Apparently we were wrong with our theories. She didn’t need to use magic in order to draw Dolohov out and alert him to her location. He’s always known where she was, and has apparently been stalking her. That’s why we didn’t want her to leave the Ministry. We had tracked him down to an abandoned building not far from here. He was close. We didn’t want her coming back here until he was caught. And now…”

“Now Hermione has gone off on her own, and left herself open to getting captured by him,” Tony finished.

“Don’t get me wrong, Hermione is a strong and powerful witch who can hold her own against anyone. Except, I’m really worried that if she ever encountered Dolohov, she would just freeze up. After him killing Ron and causing her to miscarry, she’s just not the same as before. I thought her moving to America would have helped her heal, but it only made her more isolated. She rarely came home to visit. She wasn’t really Hermione, you know? She was always paranoid, anxious. And then she met you,” Harry said, looking up at Tony. “She met you, and from that first time I saw her after she met you, that Christmas, I could already see sparks of my Hermione coming back. And in the year since, she’s come back to us. She floos more often, she comes over and visits the kids more. She’s brighter, happier, less paranoid. I thought you were good for her. But you fucking lost her! How could you just lose her?”

“We had a fight, she left. I don’t know what you wanted me to do!”

“What did you two fight about?”

“Does it matter?”

“It might.”

Tony sighed, running his hands through his hair. “We fought about him, okay?” he said, pointing at Bruce. “Hermione laid out what I saw as a ridiculous no sex in the lab rule, and said it was because of him and the fact that they had been having sex in the lab. I got jealous, and said some things I didn’t really mean, and pushed her away. She said she was going to go to a hotel, and not to call her. I called her two hours later. And have been calling her ever since.”

Bruce sighed next to him. “You’re an idiot, Tony.”

“I know,” Tony snapped. “I know.” He turned to Harry. “Is there any kind of magical tracking device or something you can do to try and find her?”

“I can try, but if she’s not close, it might not work, especially if she has been taken by Dolohov, he’s been blocking all tracking spells.”

Tony cursed, but then he got an idea. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought about it before. He pushed past Thor and Harry and moved to his lab, pulling up his holographic computer. “J.A.R.V.I.S.” he shouted rapidly punching things into the program.

“Yes, sir,” came the disembodied voice that always brought him comfort.

“I need you to activate the tracking device inside of Hermione’s phone and get me the location where it is.”

“Tracking device? If her phone has been going to voice mail, wouldn’t that make it impossible to track her phone? The battery is dead,” Bruce said.

“I installed a separate tracking device powered by a mini arc reactor in everyone’s phones,” Tony said not taking his eyes off of the screen.

“I’ve located Miss Granger,” J.A.R.V.I.S. said. “She’s at a hotel within walking distance from here.”

Tony flicked his wrist and his suit came flying as it assembled around him. 

Thor smiled and ran out of the room. 

“What are you doing?” Harry asked. 

“We’re going to go rescue my girl,” Tony said as he checked the stats popping up on the screen of his mask.

“It’s too dangerous,” Harry said. “Just let me call in my team, they’ll be here in no time. We’ll handle it.”

“I’m sorry, but you and your team have been trying to catch this guy for over a decade. I think you’ve had your chance.”

“You’re Muggles,” Harry said.

“Muggles with superpowers,” Tony said. 

“And I’m a god,” Thor said as he walked back into the room in his full armor and sporting Mjolnir. 

“We’re not letting you go alone,” Bruce said, his eyes flashing green for a split second. “We’re going to help bring her back.”

Harry sighed. “Fine. But I go in first. I have a wand.”

“And I have blasters, and he has a giant hammer, and he has his giant green guy. I think we’re all equally matched here. Can we stop wasting time?”

 

* * * * * * * * * * *

 

The mismatched quartet approached the door where Hermione’s phone was pinging. Tony closed his eyes and did something he hadn’t done in a very long time. He said a quiet prayer. He needed Hermione to be on the other side of that door. He knew the chances were good that she wouldn’t be there. That the phone could have been left behind in a scuffle. But he had to believe that they would open that door and she would be there.

“She’s in there,” Harry said.

“How can you tell?” Bruce asked.

“This room is warded. So, that means there’s a witch or a wizard in this room, but the wards aren’t Hermione’s, which means she’s not in there alone.”

“How can you tell they’re not hers?” Thor asked.

“Hers are usually keyed to let me in. These are keyed to repel anyone magical who comes close, like hers, but I’m not keyed into them. And they just feel, off. Darker.”

Tony squared his shoulders. “Alright, should we do this?”

“You’re going to need to open that door first, break the wards. Right now all it’s doing is making me want to go anywhere else but here.”

“Okay, fine,” Tony said, picking up his foot and kicking in the door. 

The room was dark. And it smelled terrible. Tony did a scan of the room, and that’s when he saw her, lying on the bed, curled in on herself. He took a step forward, and immediately regretted it. A loud siren started screeching through the room, causing Hermione to sit up in the bed, or at least try. It was then that Tony noticed that she was bound to the bed with chains on her wrists. She turned her head, and when her eyes locked on to the four men in the door way, they widened, she opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a loud pop from the opposite side of the room. 

Tony turned toward where he had heard the pop, and saw a large man suddenly appear in the room. Apparition. He always forgot that they could do that, Hermione never did it, she always traveled by Muggle means or via the Floo. He took one look at the dark haired man and knew immediately who it was without any further indication, and instantly drew his hand up, aiming it at the man who could only be Dolohov. He could feel the other three men around him tense, out of the corners of his eyes he could see Harry raising his wand on one side of him and Thor brandishing Mjolnir on the other. 

“Thor, Bruce,” Tony said. “Get her out of here.”

“Tony,” Bruce protested.

“No, you are the only ones I trust. I’ll give the signal, and you get her out of here.”

He didn’t wait for a response, and just as Dolohov was raising his wand, aiming it at the mismatched group of rescuers, Tony powered up his suit and shot directly toward him, shooting to stun, rather than kill. Dolohov was sent flying back into the wall behind him, and that’s when Thor and Bruce rushed forward. Thor didn’t hesitate before taking the chains in his hands and breaking them apart, freeing Hermione from her prison. Bruce immediately scooped her up and the two men ran from the room, hopefully rushing her to the Tower. 

When Tony was certain she was out of harms way, he turned back to Dolohov, who was once again standing. 

“Iron Man,” the Russian Wizard was saying. “I was hoping you would come. It would be boring if it were just Potter.”

“You’re going to pay for whatever the hell you did to her,” Tony said, once again aiming his gauntlet at him. 

Dolohov laughed. “You’re just a Muggle.”

“A Muggle with a super suit,” Tony replied. “What did you do to her?”

“I would tell you, but I just may make you jealous. You know, finally having her here, using her body the way I’ve only ever imagined, nothing could compare. And once I dispatch you and Potter, I’ll just go on over and take her back, so I could just use her over and over and over.”

Tony saw red. The image of the bastard rutting on his girl was just too much. He began shaking, unable to contain the rage that was building inside of him.

“Tony,” he could hear Harry saying next to him. “You need to calm down. Don’t listen to him. He’s playing your emotions. He’s trying to make it so you don’t think straight. He could be lying. You can’t kill him. We need to take him in.”

Tony was barely registering anything the boy next to him was saying. All he could do was picture the fucker who had spent the last decade tormenting the woman he was falling for. This man cursed her, stalked her, killed her husband, and kidnapped her. There was no reason why he should remain standing. He began powering up his suit. He’d never killed a person in cold blood before, but what better reason was there. He closed his eyes, and aimed his hand, and just before he sent out the kill shot, he pictured Hermione’s face. She would be so disappointed if he allowed himself to do what he was about to do. At the last second he lowered the power level of his gauntlet to stun, and sent Dolohov flying against the wall once more, this time he fell to an unconscious heap on the floor. 

Tony lifted up the face mask on his helmet and turned toward Harry. “He’s all yours. Make sure you do your job and lock him up for good.”

Harry nodded, which was good enough for Tony, and so he turned and started walking out the door.

“Where are you going?” Harry called after him.

“To my witch.”


	18. Chapter 17

Tony didn’t stop as he exited the hotel. As soon as his feet hit the pavement, he fired up his jets, flying the block to his building. He landed on the balcony of the Penthouse, pushing his way through the glass door, making his way to the bedroom just as Bruce was laying her down on the bed. 

“How is she?” Tony asked, stepping out of his suit. 

Bruce shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m not that kind of doctor. She’s awake, but not really cognizant.”

Tony pushed his way around his friend, kneeling down next to the bed. He finally took a second to take her in, biting back a snarl that threatened to erupt from his lips. Bruce was right, she was awake, but he didn’t know how long she was going to remain that way. After a quick inspection, it didn’t look like she had too many external injuries. She had a few cuts on her face and arms, and she smelled as if she had soiled herself a few times. Dolohov must have used magical means to torture her. Tony’s mind immediately replayed the words Dolohov spoke to him before he blasted him into the wall and felt a cold streak run down his spine. He bent down and grasped Hermione’s face between his hands.

“Hermione,” Tony said, trying to get her attention while she was still semi-conscious. 

Hermione responded by opening her eyes, but barely. 

“Hermione, did he,” Tony swallowed, feeling as if his throat were full of razors. “Did he rape you?”

Hermione barely shook her head in the negative. “No,” she whispered. “He said he was saving that for later. He said,” she broke off as a sob rose and broke through her throat. 

Tony gathered her in his arms, pulling her close to him, closing his eyes in relief. “Shh,” he said. “You’re okay now. We found you, and Potter is making sure he can never hurt you again.”

He held her while she cried, vowing that he would never allow anyone to hurt her again. Her sobs tapered off, and as he felt her go limp in his arms, he knew she was asleep. He carefully laid her down in the bed, before turning around to face Bruce and Thor. 

“Thank you for helping,” Tony said. 

“You’re our friends. Of course we helped,” Bruce said. 

“What’s going to happen with the one who did this?” Thor asked. 

Tony shrugged running his hands down his face. “I don’t know. Potter said he would arrest him and take him back to England to get justice for all his crimes, I guess. Once he stopped me from incinerating him, I just sort of left. I’m guessing Potter will want to come and check on Hermione and then we’ll know more.”

“Do you think Hermione will have to go back to England to testify?” Bruce asked.

“Probably. And when she does, I’m going with her. I’m not going to let her go through all of that alone.”

Bruce smiled. 

“What?” Tony asked. 

“You’re in love,” Thor said, with a smile.

“Well, I,” Tony didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to make things more awkward between him and Bruce, but he couldn’t deny that Thor wasn’t wrong. 

“It’s okay,” Bruce said. “Don’t worry about me. Hermione has been very honest about her feelings from the very beginning. And she’s been in love with you for a long time. She was just waiting until you were ready for the same thing.”

The sound of rustling behind him prevented Tony from responding to that statement. He turned around expecting to see Hermione waking up, but instead she was seizing on the bed. Tony was frozen in place, his heart in his throat. He didn’t know what to do.

Luckily, Bruce didn’t have the same problem. He rushed toward the bed, holding Hermione’s head in place.

“Thor, the fireplace. There’s a powder, it’s magic. Hermione uses it to communicate with her friends in England. She, she throws it in, and says ‘Potter Residence.’ I don’t know if your magic is the same, but…”

“Say no more,” Thor responded before running out of the room. 

That snapped Tony out of his trance and he rushed toward the bed, just as she stopped seizing and fell limp on the bed. 

“Is she?” Tony asked, his voice cracking. 

“She’s breathing,” Bruce answered. “But I can’t tell you more than that.”

“Where is she?” came an unfamiliar voice from the living room. 

Tony looked at the door in time to see a redheaded man come running into the room. He looked to be slightly older than Hermione. 

“Who are you?” Tony asked.

“George Weasley, Hermione is my sister-in-law,” he answered, kneeling next to the bed. “I was visiting my sister, when your friend flooed. I was sent through while she contacted Harry. We need to get her to St. Mungo’s. I don’t know what the bastard did to her, but the fact that she was seizing means she was probably hit with the Cruciatus at least once, and she needs to see a Healer now.”

George scooped Hermione up from the bed and started moving back toward the fireplace. 

“Wait,” Tony said. “I’m going with you.”

George shook his head. “Sorry, mate, you’re a Muggle, and you can’t travel through the floo. But if you get to London, we’ll try to—”

“Where?” Tony demanded. “Where are you taking her? I need coordinates.”

George sighed. “It’s magical, so it doesn’t have coordinates. Even if it did, I wouldn’t know the coordinates. The best I can give you is the Muggle location. Purge and Dowse.”

“J.A.R.V.I.S. set coordinates to Purge and Dowse,” Tony shouted into the room.

“Yes, sir,” the A.I. responded, causing George to pause. 

“Wicked,” George breathed. “Once we get Hermione in good hands, I’m going to want to chat with you about your Muggle technology.” He moved to the fireplace, and took a handful of powder. “I’ll let Harry know you’re coming, and we’ll keep an eye out for you.” He threw the powder in the fireplace, shouted out “St. Mungo’s,” before disappearing in flash of green. 

Tony turned around and made a beeline for his suit, stepping into it. 

“Keep us updated on her status,” Bruce said. 

“Will do. Try not to blow the place up while I’m gone,” Tony told Bruce. He then turned to Thor, “And make sure your brother doesn’t come in and smash the place up again, I just got the place the way I like it.”

Thor smirked. “I’ll try, but I’m making no promises.”

Tony returned the smirk before lowering the face shield and taking off out the window for the long flight to London.

TSHG

Hermione groaned as she moved her head. Everything hurt. Why did everything hurt? And that’s when she remembered. The hotel. Dolohov. Tony. 

She opened her eyes only to immediately shut them as she was blinded by a bright light. 

“It’s okay, take your time,” a familiar voice said from next to her. 

“George?” she croaked out.

“Yeah, I know I’m probably not who you’re expecting, but you started seizing and your friends started to panic so they figured out how to use the Floo, how Muggles could use the floo is beyond me, but they did. And I was at Harry and Ginny’s to help out with the kids while Harry was out trying to find you, and well, I just came through and brought you here.”

“Where’s here?”

“St. Mungo’s. Blimey, ‘Mione, you gave me a good scare.”

Hermione smiled. “I’m sorry, George.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault.”

Hermione shook her head. “But it is. I wasn’t careful. I was just so mad at Tony that I wasn’t thinking straight. I left the Tower, I went to that hotel, and I performed magic without setting my wards. I was careless, and I was punished for that carelessness.”

“No,” George said firmly. “Absolutely not. You’re not going to take any blame for this. That Dolohov tosser is fucking insane, and he gets one hundred percent of the blame for this. He stalked you for years. He murdered my brother and nephew or niece, and he tried to do the same to you. You are not responsible for any of this.”

Hermione started crying.

“Bloody hell, George, what’d you do now?” Harry said from the doorway. “Can’t leave you alone with her for five minutes without you making her cry.”

“Harry!” Hermione shouted. 

“Hermione,” Harry said, coming toward the bed, enveloping her in a tight hug. “I’m going to lock you in Grimmauld Place and never let you out of my sight if you ever disappear on me again. I don’t think I can handle losing you for real.”

“Believe me, I have no plans to disappear again, ever.”

Harry pulled away. “How are you feeling? And be honest, I’ll know if you’re lying to me.”

“Honestly, I feel like I was hit by a truck.”

“Well, that’s not surprising, according to the Healers, Dolohov hit you with the Cruciatus at least once.”

“Three. He hit me with it three times. Every time I refused to give into him and let him fuck me willingly, he cursed me.”

“So, he didn’t…” Harry trailed off, not able to say the words.

Hermione shook her head. “No. I kept waiting for him to, but he kept insisting that by the end I would be begging him to take me. I honestly don’t know how long he would have held off if you guys hadn’t…”

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank Merlin, because that’s the first thing he taunted Tony with. That he had violated you.”

Hermione shook her head. “That was the first thing Tony asked before I passed out. I already told him he didn’t.”

“Good, good. Because the last thing I need is a worked up Iron Man in London.”

Hermione tried to sit up. “What do you mean, in London?”

Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. “He’s here. He flew over here in that suit of his. And of course, since he’s a Muggle, he can’t come into St. Mungo’s. So he’s at The Burrow right now.”

“The Burrow.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I really don’t know what’s going on. I guess George came and got you because Ginny couldn’t just leave the kids. And he told Tony where he was taking you. Tony flew all the way here, and George met him outside, and then took him to The Burrow.”

Hermione turned to the red-head perched at her other side. “Why The Burrow of all places? You could have gotten him a Muggle hotel room.”

George shrugged. “I don’t know, I just couldn’t think of anything. And he was yelling at me, and he’s fucking scary in that suit, so I took him home to mum. That way she can keep busy tending to him, and he can maybe relax. Plus I figured once we were able to get you out of here, you would go to The Burrow to finish healing.”

Hermione closed her eyes, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall. The Burrow. She hadn’t been back there since…

“Or, you know, we can find you somewhere else. Please don’t cry,” George said.

“It’s fine, it’s probably for the best. Tony wouldn’t know anything about potions or anything like that, and mu—Molly would. It’s just I haven’t been there since Ron.”

George leaned over and stroked the hair away from her face. “I know. We all know. I’m glad you’re going to take this step. But don’t let mum hear you call her Molly. She’ll take offense to that, yeah? You’re still her daughter. Nothing’s changed.”

Hermione nodded her head before turning back to Harry. “What happened with Dolohov?”

“He’s in Azkaban awaiting a trial, which we’re working to expedite.”

“So, what does that mean for me?”

“It means that you’re going to need to stick around because knowing the Wizengomet, the trial can happen at any time, and we’ll need you here to testify.”

Hermione nodded. “Yeah, I understand.”

“But we’re not going to keep you prisoner, this time. There’s no way Dolohov is getting out of Azkaban, so you’re safe. So if you don’t want to stay with any of us, you can get a hotel,we just need you here so we can get you to the Ministry in a moments notice if needed.”

“That’s fine. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I need to get out of here and talk to Tony. I, just, really need to talk to Tony.”

Harry nodded. “Let’s get a Healer and see what we can do, yeah?”

TSHG

Tony paced the perimeter of the living room of the strange house he had been brought to. The second he landed in London that red head was there, and before he could get more than two words in, he was being apparated here, where he was immediately fussed over by another red head, who he learned was Hermione’s mother-in-law. When he learned where he was, he was prepared for everything to be awkward, seeing as he was really infatuated with her daughter-in-law, however, he soon learned that he really had nothing to worry about. Molly made him a cup of tea, showed him up to a room to store his suit, and then told him to make himself at home. Since then he’d been pacing and watching in awe as Molly not only cleaned the kitchen with magic, but also started cooking dinner with it as well. He had been living with Hermione for almost a year, and he had never seen her use that much magic. She typically just used magic when she was in the lab. 

“Is something wrong, dear?” Molly asked him when she caught him staring at her. 

“Nothing, it’s just, I’ve never seen anyone use magic like this before. Hermione does all of this like a…Muggle.”

Molly smiled at him. “Yes, that’s our Hermione. She’s a muggleborn, which means she grew up as a muggle, therefore she is used to doing everything the Muggle way, if you will. We’re from Pureblood families. We were born into magic, therefore doing things the magical way is the only way we know how to do things.”

Tony nodded. “That makes sense. I forget how little I know about your world,” he said. “The only witch I know is Hermione, and her scars were all caused by Purebloods. I read all about it in that book she made me read. And I guess in my head I categorized all purebloods as evil. It’s refreshing to be proven wrong. And it’s really interesting to see magic used for practical things. It makes me think that Hermione is really holding out on me.”

Molly laughed as she moved closer to Tony. She placed her hands on his biceps and looked up into his eyes. “What’s happened to our Hermione has been tragic. She doesn’t deserve all the hate and hurt that she’s endured in her lifetime. But she’s a strong witch, and she will survive this, like she has survived everything else thrown her way. That being said, she’s going to need you to lean on for a bit. I can tell how much you care for her. Please know that as long as you’re here, you’re family. But if you hurt her, you may find yourself at the wrong end of a wand wielded by a protective older brother, or even mother.”

Tony swallowed. “Yeah, no, I hope I don’t hurt her. There are no plans to hurt her. I’ve been an idiot long enough. I’m done pushing her away.”

Molly nodded, giving him a squeeze. “Let’s see it that you are.”

Before Tony could say anything, there was a sound from the yard. He turned around in time to see Harry walking into the house with Hermione on his arm. Time stood still when their eyes locked from across the room. Without saying anything, Tony found his way across the room, his arms wrapping around Hermione’s body, drawing her close. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt her arms wrap around his neck tightly. 

“I’m so sorry,” Tony mumbled into her hair. “I’m so, so sorry.”

He felt Hermione’s body trembling with sobs. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have stormed out.”

“I shouldn’t have driven you away. I was an ass. If I hadn’t said what I had said you wouldn’t have left the Tower, you wouldn’t have—”

“You’re not to blame, Tony. I don’t blame you for any of it. If I can’t blame myself for what happened, you can’t either,” she whispered in his neck.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if the entire world had been lifted from his shoulders. He pushed her back from him slightly, just enough to be able to bring his lips down to meet hers in a soft kiss. Hermione didn’t hesitate to return the kiss, and Tony’s heart soared. After days of thinking he had lost her forever, here she was, in his arms, kissing him back. Remembering that they were in the middle of her mother-in-law’s living room, definitely not alone, and she had just been released from the hospital, Tony reluctantly pulled away, breaking the kiss before sweeping her up in his arms, bringing her up the stairs and into the room he stored his suit in, shutting the door behind him.


End file.
